


Serendipity

by larrylovesthebooteh



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bullying, Crying, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Long One Shot, M/M, Sorta friends to lovers, Very slight age gap, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-03-11 07:23:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3318965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larrylovesthebooteh/pseuds/larrylovesthebooteh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry has a major crush on his brother Zayn's best friend, Louis Tomlinson. But after two years of little more than a conversation between the two, he'd long ago come to terms with the fact that any dream of a relationship with him was virtually impossible. That is until Louis finds out Harry's cold hearted bullies are doing a little more than teasing and are very soon going to step up their game.<br/>Or, Harry is bullied and Louis does his best to defend him until something goes wrong. (This is like my worst description yet but please check it out, I promise it's better than it seems!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Serendipity

**Author's Note:**

> Helloooo Larries! This is another Larry Stylinson centric fic and once again, there is Larry and only Larry so if you don't accept that, please leave. There's some minor swears and some violence mentioned, but no smut other than like one make out session (heheh). This one shot is a fair bit longer than i'd first intended and idek if it really should be called a one shot, but i think it's pretty decent anyways. Harry is fifteen or sixteen in this one and Louis is about seventeen, although he looks like his twenty two/three year old self. Niall and Liam are just kinda there so i apologize for that, i didn't mean for it to happen :,( PLEASE DONT JUDGE ME ON MY LACK OF POPTARTS KNOWLEDGE IVE NEVER ACTUALLY HAD ONE CAUSE MY MOM IS MEAN (JK BUT IVE NEVER HAD ONE).
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudos and comment and if you enjoy it i love you kay? BYEEE
> 
> ~Sydney <3

~Harry's POV~

"Harry! Louis' here! Hurry up!" My older brother Zayn shouted from downstairs. I perked up at the mention of his best friend, aka my crush. It'd happened two years ago, when I was in seventh grade, when Zayn showed up at school with him. I'd immediately taken a liking to him; he was nice, a great singer, and drop dead gorgeous in my opinion.

Now, two years later half way through my ninth year, my infatuation with the Doncaster boy remained, although it was highly unrealistic. Louis was in grade eleven, not to mention Zayn's right hand man. My chances with him were extremely minute; the only fact that made it slightly possible was that he was gay. 

You could say we were friends. Well, not really I suppose. He was always at the house here and so I saw him a lot, but we would rarely have a full conversation unless we were alone, which again didn't happen a lot. 

We had gotten a bit closer the beginning of my freshman year when the entire student body had decided I was different. He stands up for me when he can, but it didn't change a lot. Sometimes I wish he wouldn't bother because Jonathan would only hurt me more after that. No one knew I was bullied physically. They all thought it was just gossip and name calling I suffered from, but no. I knew Zayn and Louis would flip shit if they knew I was hit and abused every day, so I did my best to cover up the cuts and bruises scattered across my body, but it proved difficult when they decided my chubby cheeks needed to be beaten.

I dealt with the pain, but it was very hard to at times.

I ran down the stairs where Zayn and his friends were gathered. Liam, Niall and Louis were the regulars here. They were fine with my presence so they were welcome here all the time, but Zayn knew his other friends didn't treat me the greatest, so it was often just the three of them here. I appreciated Zayn's protectiveness, but it wasn't like they were worse than Jonathan. I could handle a few dirty looks.

The three turned around at my approach and I smiled. Well, in Louis' direction. He smiled back. "Okay, everyone's here. Let's go!" Niall cheered. He was nice enough I suppose; he never paid much attention to me, but it was a lot better than beatings.

The five of us walked to Zayn's truck where we climbed in, Niall screaming shot gun and leaping into the passenger seat. Which left Louis, Liam and I in the back seat with me in the middle. Oh boy.

We buckled our seatbelts as Zayn started his truck, me scooted over a little to the left so I wasn't bothering Louis. He seemed to notice then that I was sat beside him and he looked down at me with his clear blue eyes. "So Harry," Louis spoke and I tried my best not to fangirl. "Are those boys still giving you trouble at school?"

"Not really." I lied. Every day.

"Tell me if they do and Zayn and I will be sure to pound their heads in." he gave me a breath taking smile that I couldn't help but return.

"Thank you." Louis only patted my knee gingerly. I internally fainted at the small gesture.

In no time, we were at the school. I felt extremely reluctant to get out of the vehicle; Jonathan would most certainly find me again and for some reason, I just really didn't want to get hurt today. Maybe I could avoid him for most of today. Or I could follow Louis and Zayn so Jonathan wouldn't bother me. No. That was cowardly. Not that I wasn't a coward.

I walked into my first class, math, quite earlier than I usually would. I wanted to avoid Jonathan and math was definitely not his favourite subject. Even though he was in this class, he'd rarely show up, not that I was complaining.

I sighed, doodling on my notebook as the students began to trickle in. I already wished this day would end.

**********

Lunch rolled around and I scurried from English to get to the cafeteria. Maybe Zayn would let me sit with his table and I wouldn't have to worry about Jon finding me. He never looked at the popular table; he thought I was the biggest loser of the entire school, and I guess he overlooked the fact that I was Zayn's brother. 

The halls were swarming with people also trying to get to the cafeteria, and it was making it quite hard to get there in time. I frantically craned my neck to try and look for an opening in the crowd or possibly Zayn or Louis, but to no avail. Eventually there was a break in the immense flow of students and I was finally able to get to the cafeteria. My eyes scanned the tables, looking for Zayn's jet black quiff but I still couldn't see him. Maybe he wasn't here yet?

But once I saw the populars table, I caught a glimpse of Louis' breathtaking smile, laughing at something Niall had said while sitting down at the packed table. I started to walk over there, keeping my eyes focused on his back so I didn't lose sight of the table. Just as I had taken a step, a cold hand suddenly clamped around my wrist, halting me in my tracks. It was then that I noticed Louis had started to turn around. His mesmerizing eyes of blue caught mine as the hand roughly tugged me out of the cafeteria, despite my desperate thrashing to break free. I knew exactly who it was and I was absolutely dreading what he wanted this time.

He didn't stop pulling me until we reached the boys restroom, where he threw me to the grubby marble floor, although making sure to roughly slam me into the wall first. His friends laughed.

"Hey faggot. Thought you could avoid me today? 'Afraid not." Jon sneered, stepping towards me. I squirmed into a sitting position, shuffling until my back hit the far wall. I was trapped.

"Coward." He snorted, stepping on my ankle and putting his weight on it. I cried out in pain, but he only pushed down harder. 

"St-stop." I whimpered weakly, trying to pull my foot out from under his. At this, he lifted his foot and kicked out between my legs, hitting me hard in the groin. The air left my lungs and I cried out again.

"And why would I do that?" he mused, encouraging his friends to chortle with him. But suddenly, a subtle cough sounded from the door to the bathroom. Jon immediately stepped back, looking towards the sound of the cough. I was utterly relieved when I saw that it was Louis.

"Sorry to interrupt," he began coldly, staring at the three with malice. "But Zayn would like to see you, Harry." 

Jonathan laughed. "I'm sure Zayn can wait five minutes, can't you see he's a little busy right now?" Louis glared at him, hand twitching beside him. Seeming fed up with the three idiots, he traipsed right over to me, Jonathan instantly moving out of his way.

"Actually no." he cast another leer at him. "He needs to come with me now."

Louis reached down and pulled me up with two hands, causing my heart to flutter wildly in my chest. Jonathan stared at us with a strange look on his face. 

"You can leave now." Louis sassed, crossing his arms over his chest. Jon rolled his eyes but left the room with his posse trailing behind him. He huffed slightly, looking down at me with concern and a bit of anger in his eyes. 

"Sorry I didn't come sooner. Are you alright?" his tone was still impassive, I couldn't tell if he was still angry or not. I looked down, nodding but making sure not to put too much weight on my ankle. Louis sighed and it was now that I heard the slight anger in his voice.

"That wasn't the first time, was it? That wasn't the first time he's hurt you?" he guessed monotonously. I hesitated for a moment before shaking my head ashamedly.

"And you decided to keep it to yourself." He continued angrily. I kept my eyes focused on my feet, not saying a word.

"Had it ever occurred to you that Zayn and I could have stopped it from the get go if you weren't so stupid as to lie to my face about it?" he snapped and again I said nothing.

"You're unbelievable." He mumbled, shaking his head before glaring at me and stomping from the room. My lip wobbled immensely. He was mad at me; this was all my fault. He was absolutely right. If I had told him and Zayn, I wouldn't have to deal with all the pain and suffering. But I was scared. If Jon had found out I told the most popular boy in school that he was a monster, he'd never let me get away with it. They could hit him all they want, he'd still find me at some time of the day and make sure I was punished double time.

But now it seemed as if I had ruined any friendship whatsoever between us, and that broke my heart a little.

I kept my tears bottled in while I walked regretfully to the office. There was no way I was going to face a ride home with Zayn and Louis, I don't think I could handle it. He'd no doubt told Zayn already and I knew he was going to flip shit too and I didn't exactly want to be confined in a car when he did so. Plus, I was absolutely done with school today and I didn't want to have to endure another three hours of it. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed with a book and maybe sleep a little to calm my raging mind.

As I pushed the door open to the office, Nancy, the nurse and secretary, looked up from her computer to smile at me. She was practically a mother to me, since I saw her so often. She was pretty much the nicest lady I knew, and she always knew what I needed to hear. She knew about Louis and Jonathan, but she'd sworn she'd keep the secret safe, no matter how much she always told me I needed to tell someone. 

"Hello Harry dear, are you alright?" Nancy asked concernedly. 

"Actually, Mrs. Colden, I was wondering if I could go home. I'm not feeling too great." I shuffled my feet sheepishly.

"I've told you before, hon, call me Nancy. And, well come with me and you can tell me what's really going on."

She stood from her spinney chair and walked over to the nursing room, me following her. Nancy creaked open the door and sat down in the chair across from the bed. "Now, take a seat and tell me about your day Harry."

So I did as told and told her all about how Jonathan had hurt me in the bathroom and how Louis had seen it and now he was loaded at me. She simply nodded as I went on, not interrupting me once, and I could tell she was still thinking when I finished, as she had stayed silent for about a minute.

"Well, from what I've heard Louis is a very sweet boy and so are you, Harry. I don't think he's mad at you, but at those assholes who hurt someone he cares about." I laughed when she said "assholes". "It may seem like he's angry at you, but I'm sure he's just worried about you and upset that you've had to deal with so much pain when he could've done something about it."

"Thank you, Mrs. - I mean Nancy, you're right. He's- he's probably not mad at me." I said, even though for once, I couldn't believe her. Louis didn't care that much about me, he simply felt the need to protect me because he was Zayn's friend. And he was annoyed at me because he thought I was just a stupid boy who thought he was manly enough to take a beating on a daily basis. The thought brought tears to my eyes, but I bit them back. "Can I still go home?" 

Nancy nodded, getting up from her seat. "Of course. I'll drive you, just give me one second."

"But Nan-"

"Nonsense, dear, you live a ways away. I don't want you walking all the way in the cold. Caroline will watch over the office." And I couldn't argue, because I felt that it would be selfish to decline her kindness towards me. Plus the fact that it was cold and I didn't want to freeze my ass off just to get away from Louis.

Nancy led me outside to her car where she hopped in the driver's side, leaving me to crawl in through the passenger door. Since she already knew where I lived, having dropped me off before, she drove smoothly to my drive without any need of directions whatsoever.

"Have a nice day, Harry. Good luck with your friends." I smiled sadly at her, getting out of the car knowing that her luck wasn't needed. I didn't think Louis was forgiving me any time soon.

As she drove off, I slumped up the stairs, feeling utterly defeated. I needed my bed more than anything right now, so I hastily grabbed the spare key from under the door mat and opened the door. The house was completely silent since no one was home, and I liked it that way. I needed silence if I ever wanted to be sane again.

I sauntered up the stairs and into my room, immediately falling onto my bed without bothering to take off my clothes. Within minutes, I was fast asleep.

**********

When I next woke up, it was to the slam of a door from down stairs. They're here. 

"Harry?" Zayn called worriedly. Of course. I hadn't shown up to his truck, so his protective side was most definitely on alert right now. I didn't answer. Like the coward I was, I wanted to put off this conversation for as long as I possibly could, even if it meant pretending to sleep for two more hours.

"Check upstairs." I heard him mumble and not two seconds after that a pair of footsteps began ascending the staircase. I made sure to keep my eyes sealed shut and my breathing steady. My door creaked open and I heard someone walk in.

"Found him." Louis' voice sounded. I heard Zayn sigh.

"What's he doing here so early? He never texted me that he was going home." Zayn sounded genuinely confused. 

"I don't know." Louis said smoothly. "Maybe he wasn't feeling well." Wait...Did Louis not tell him?

"Yeah maybe. I suppose we should let him sleep if that's the case. C'mon we can play the Xbox." And with that, they left.

Why hadn't Louis told Zayn? A mere three hours ago he nearly blew up at me for not doing so, and now he didn't even say a word about it? This is so confusing. I thought. I don't know how to feel about this. I don't know how he feels about it. I suppose I'll know once I go down there, but I decided to wait about an hour before doing so, as to not seem too suspicious.

When I thought it was safe to go down, I hesitantly walked out of my room and down the stairs, frowning at the slight pain in my ankle as I did so. I could hear the boys laughing loudly at something one of them had said and my stomach tightened with nerves. What if he really was mad at me?

But I didn't exactly have a chance to turn back now because as I descended the last step, all of them turned to look at me.

"Hey Harry." Zayn called from the couch, but my eyes were on Louis. He had turned to look at me like the rest, although he looked back at the TV almost instantly, sucking the inside of his cheek sourly. Ouch. I guess he was mad at me. My stomach dropped in guilt.

"Hi..."

"Why were you here so early?" Zayn asked, although most of his focus was on the violent video game they were all playing. 

"I-I didn't feel well." I lied, coming to sit down on the recliner. Zayn nodded, continuing to flick furiously at the buttons on his controller. I sighed, taking out my phone and starting to play a game. I spent most of my time with Zayn and his friends and usually I was pretty happy considering Louis, although mostly paying attention to Zayn, actually enjoyed my presence. But now, I felt tense, guilty, and awkward sitting across from him and let me tell you, it wasn't the best feeling to have your crush want to have nothing to do with you.

Hours passed and I began to start feeling drowsy again, despite having slept for three hours when I got home. The boys had long since stopped playing the Xbox and were now quietly chatting over a couple of beers. I was still curled into a ball on the recliner and was getting increasingly bored. They hadn't acknowledged me once since I had come down here, including Louis which again had my heart swimming with guilt. I was about to give in and close my eyes when I heard something that caught my interest.

"You guys can come over tomorrow if you'd like. My parents'll be gone and we can play my new ps4." Louis offered them, taking a swig of his beer. But suddenly, he turned his attention to me. "Harry can come too if he'd like."

My heart wriggled excitedly in my chest. He actually wanted me to come? God, I'd never been to his house before, why offer now when I was convinced he hated me? But I nodded anyways, too thrilled to decline. To my surprise, he smiled slightly, setting down his empty beer bottle. Maybe he wasn't too mad after all.

"Alright, lads, I'm going to bed, keep it down would ya?" He announced, crawling under his sleeping bag that was splayed on the floor.

"I think I oughta too, 'night mate." Zayn yawned and walked over to his own sleeping bag. 

"You guys are no fun." Niall pouted, but slipped into his own once Liam had gone to his. I would normally slump upstairs to my own bed and sleep up there, but I just felt too tired to move, so I laid my head down on the back of the recliner and soon fell asleep.

But, it wasn't too long later when I awoke again, still feeling extremely tired, but shivering my ass off and too cold to go back to sleep. I knew I should probably get up and get a blanket, but I didn't want to wake the others, so I just curled into a tighter ball to try and get warmer. I heard one of the boys shuffle in their sleeping bags, along with a low moan. Suddenly, I heard one of them actually get up.

I didn't know who it was, but he walked passed the recliner and to the, I would assume, bathroom. Part of me thought it was Louis, because I knew that he got up at least once during the night to go to the bathroom on most sleep overs. I slowly cracked open one eye to squint at the four sleeping bags and yep, it was Louis.

I heard the distant flush of the toilet and knew that he was coming back soon, so I tried to stop the shivers racking my body, but without much success. I wondered idly if Zayn had maybe turned the heat down and that was why I was so cold. I heard the flick of a light and footsteps coming down the hall, meaning Louis was coming back. He came by my recliner and I expected him to keep going and return to bed, but to my surprise I heard him stop.

He turned around, as far as I knew, and headed upstairs. What's he doing up there? I thought confusedly. After a moment, I heard him come back down and stop by the recliner again. Suddenly, I was engulfed in warmth from one of my blankets from my bed. He... Got me a blanket?

Louis tucked the comforter securely around me, eliminating my shivers and warming my heart. He actually cared enough to get me a blanket when I was cold? My insides were bursting with happiness, but felt disappointed when I heard him slip back under his sleeping bag. Still, I was warm, I was happy, I was relieved and that's how I fell asleep to the deep breaths of the four boys on the floor.

**********

It was now Saturday, just about time to leave for Louis' and I was proper nervous. I was excited to see Louis' house and hang out with the boys, but I still didn't know for sure if Louis was mad at me, and doing something wrong at his own house wouldn't help my chances of forgiveness. I sucked it up anyways and followed them out of the house and to Zayn's truck. It was around seven at night and the boys had just got here five minutes ago. The three boys had left this morning to spend a little time with their families as well as to get ready for the upcoming sleepover. While Louis said he had to clean the house up a bit, Niall and Liam needed to grab some more clothes, so it was agreed that they would all meet here to get a ride to Louis'.

Niall went for the front seat again, although Louis had whacked him upside the head before saying he was taking it because he never got it. I felt slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be riding in the back with me, but got in with Liam and Niall anyways. Zayn chatted away about his favourite football team to Louis, while Liam and Niall argued about who would get the blue controller when they played the play station, leaving me to stare absently out the window. 

I felt the deepest regret for keeping the secret from Louis, not because I wouldn't have had to be hurt so much, but because he wouldn't be ignoring me right now. Although, I still didn't understand why exactly he was mad at me. Did he think I was trying to get attention by not doing something about it sooner? Did he think I wanted to be hurt? Or was Nancy right and he actually cared about me more than he let on? None of it made sense to me, but whatever the reason, I just wanted him to talk to me again.

The truck started to abruptly slow down, meaning we were at Louis' and my gut twisted with nerves. I didn't know why I was so nervous, but it was starting to get annoying. The boys all opened up their doors as well as me, climbing out of the vehicle and heading to the boot to get our sleep over supplies. I snatched my sleeping bag and small backpack of clothes and toiletries, following them up the thin brick pathway and up the stairs.

Louis unlocked the door and everyone flooded in with me following like a lost puppy. His house was of fair size and had a neat modern twist that had me fascinated. Zayn and I had a quite old fashioned house so I wasn't used to seeing such smooth and glassy surfaces. But I liked it, I really liked it, just about as much as I loved the smell of it. It smelled just like Louis, well go figure, and it made me so much calmer within seconds.

"Alright, lads. I'll go set up the play station. You can help yourself to the fridge, but I'd imagine, Harry, that you won't be consuming alcohol tonight, am I correct?" he chuckled, looking in my direction. My stomach fluttered and I couldn't help but smile and laugh at his comment, shaking my head. He smiled back.

"Right, there should be some Pepsi on the top shelf if you'd like." And with a final wink, he sauntered off downstairs. My cheeks were flushed, heart hammering in my chest. Did that actually just happen? It was such a simple conversation, but I found myself feeling giddy with glee and having to fight the urge to jump up and down in excitement. The smile stretched across my face as I joined them at the fridge, watching as Niall tossed everyone a beer.

He turned around and saw me standing there, chuckling and reaching back in to snatch a Pepsi off the top shelf. "Here you are, Harry." He clapped me firmly on the shoulder and handed me the pop can. I thanked him with the smile still present on my face, following them again as we headed downstairs. 

Louis' basement was just as neat and modern looking as upstairs, but almost more homely, per say. The walls were a smooth charcoal grey, lacking any windows and creating a safe, cozy feeling in my stomach. The floor was a sleek, shiny hardwood, practically sparkling without any garbage or laundry littering the space. A medium length leather futon sit in front of a small coffee table and a large plasma TV screen. 

But, I was so busy taking in the new room that I hadn't seen the boys all take up the couch. Zayn was on the far left, Niall and then Liam beside him, with Louis on the far right. There was only a tiny space left next to him, which left me with either sitting squished next to him, or on the floor. I was just about to walk over to sit in front of the couch when Louis spoke up.

"Come sit, Harry, I don't bite." He teased, patting the small space beside him. My eyes widened. He actually wanted me to sit beside him? I hesitantly walked to the couch and squeezed in next to him, shifting into the thin space. With my cheek pressed against his shoulder and my thigh pushed right against his, I surprised myself by being utterly pleased instead of uncomfortable sitting so close to him. His intoxicating smell enveloping my senses, his warmth forced so close to mine, his slow breathing soothing my once raging nerves. It was nice.

I continued to surprise myself for the next hour by actually having a blast. No, I wasn't playing the game they were playing, nor was I really involved with the banter, but I practically killed myself over the humor of the four boys and the comical things they did on the game. Plus, being squished into Louis' side for an hour proved to be most enjoyable. I was calm, I was comfortable, and I was perfectly at ease, three things I'd've never expected of this sleepover. 

"Hey Harry?" I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard Louis say my name, looking up at him. "Do you wanna play?"

My eyes widened at his abrupt offer, completely taken off guard once again. 

"I-I don't know how to play." I said quietly.

"That's alright, I'll teach you. You can even use my controller." He handed me the sleek, black controller. My insides were wriggling in excitement again. I was starting to wonder if I'd be able to be more surprised in one day. I heard Niall gasp from beside Zayn.

"You lucky bastard, Louis won't even let us touch it and when we do, he kicks us in the shins." He said grudgingly. I laughed.

"Hush up, Horan, I've let you use it plenty." Louis huffed. The boys chuckled lightly at his response.

"Okay, here let me help you." And with that, he swung his arm over my shoulder, reaching with his other hand to place it over mine. My heart beat erratically in my chest, skin practically melting under his touch. His breath was so close to mine, I almost couldn't handle it.

After five minutes of going over buttons and the name of the game, he finally released me, to my slight disappointment, and told me I should be able to play fine now. I went to hand him back his controller, but he immediately stopped me. "No, no, you're playing. I only have four controllers. Plus, I want to see you beat Zayn, he's pretty rubbish." He stage whispered loudly. 

"Hey!" Zayn whined from the other side of the couch. We all laughed. "Now I have to beat you, curly boy. Bring it on."

But he never did, because within minutes, I had the game mastered and quite literally beat all three of them within ten minutes. 

"Holy shit Harry." Louis laughed as the rest of the boys gawked at the TV screen. I giggled, blushing and feeling quite pleased with myself. "Do you wanna play again?" 

I shook my head, handing him back his controller. "How about we take turns?" he smiled. "We can be team Tommo." 

I smiled wider at his suggestion, nodding vigorously. And that was how the rest of the night went, taking turns on his game and beating everyone almost every time. A couple of times we changed the game, to give the boys a fair chance, and each time Louis would show me the controls and how to play, just like the first time. But now it was nearly eleven thirty and I was fading fast on Louis' shoulder. I was just too comfortable to not feel sleepy and now that it was Louis' turn, I was nearly fast asleep pressed next to him.

Just as I was slipping off, I heard Louis yawn and say my name. "Harry, you wanna-" he was cut off by a chorus of "aww's" from the other boys. I was too tired to register much, but I assumed it was because of me. I was also too tired to move so I simply stayed there as if I was asleep.

"Guess that answers my question." He said quietly and somewhat fondly. 

"I suppose we should follow suit, it's getting pretty late." Zayn said, and from what I heard, got up. I heard a bunch of shuffling of sleeping bags and several footsteps leaving and entering the room, but Louis stayed put, warm against my side. After about ten minutes, I assumed everyone was done, because the light was turned off and silence ensued.

"Here, Lou, I'll take Harry and you can get ready. I set out his sleeping bag." Zayn said quietly. No. I thought. Don't take me away from him! 

"No." Louis said abruptly, to my immense surprise. I felt his arm wrap around my shoulders again, tucking me into his side. "He's adorable when he sleeps, I don't want to move him. He'll wake up."

I couldn't believe my ears, he fucking thought I was cute?! And... He was going to let me sleep in the same bed as him?My mental fangirl went completely ape in that moment and it took everything in me not to squeal out loud. 

Zayn chuckled softly. "You'll still have to move him, Louis, unless you plan on giving him and yourself the biggest neck crick in mankind." Louis laughed.

"Yeah, I know, but I also know that shoving him in a sleeping bag while he's half asleep without waking him up would prove to be difficult." Louis chuckled. "And I'm afraid I just can't let you wake him."

"Okay, okay, go ahead." Zayn caved. "But let me help you, I'll need to pull out the couch and get you some blankets. Are you going to put on pajamas?"

"Okay, sure. And no, I don't think I'll need them. I don't think he will either, he seems comfortable enough." Louis answered. I suddenly felt the couch begin to move and I assumed they were collapsing it into a bed. 

"Have you got Harry? He'll fall back if you don't." Zayn said, stopping the movement in the couch. Louis' arm wrapped firmer around my shoulders and I felt the other slip under my thighs.

"Yeah." He said quietly. With that, the back of the couch disappeared from behind me. Louis moved his arm to wrap around my torso and stood up, picking me up bridal style. My head rolled onto his collarbone, fitting perfectly into his neck tucked underneath his chin. 

"You can sit down, I'll get some blankets from upstairs and make the couch bed." Zayn said. I felt Louis nod and move to sit down on the floor. From what I could hear, Zayn went upstairs to grab some blankets then, leaving Louis and I practically all alone, considering that Niall and Liam were fast asleep on the floor already. Louis' hand was hanging loosely on my side with me curled up in his lap, but it wrapped suddenly firmly around my side, causing me to whimper slightly at the pressure. Not two days ago I was kicked impossibly hard by Jonathan himself, and the nasty bruise had yet to fade even a little bit.

Louis pulled back in surprise, but slowly grabbed the hem of my shirt and started to pull the fabric upwards. When the skin showing the bruise was revealed, I heard him gasp. Please don't be mad. I pleaded him internally. Please don't move me. He pulled the material back down, a sigh leaving his lips. As if to ask him for forgiveness, I burrowed slightly further into his neck, but not so much to seem suspicious. He simply began to rub the area gently, so gently that I found the drowsiness sweeping over me again. No! I thought. This is never going to happen again, you need to savour it while it lasts. But my body clearly had other ideas, and before long, I was fast asleep in his safe, caring arms.

**********

The next morning, I awoke with my back smushed against Louis' front. The blush rose to my cheeks like a wildfire when I realized his arms were wrapped around my waist making me the little spoon, deep breaths emitting his lips and I assumed he was still asleep. I couldn't hear anyone else in the room, but I did hear some ruckus upstairs, so I imagined the boys were making breakfast or something of the sort. 

I turned around in his grip, looking up at Louis' gorgeous face, eyelids shut peacefully, and I felt the intense urge to touch his flawless cheekbones. So I did. I squirmed back a little in his hold and reached slowly, hesitantly, towards his face. Once my finger came in contact with the heat filled skin, I let a small smile touch my lips. He was so perfect; I was almost for sure I was in love with this boy, which was pathetic since he hasn't ever felt the same. But even if he didn't feel the same way, I felt happier than I'd ever been in my life pressed so close to him, and I couldn't make sense of it for the life of me.

My finger stroked from his slightly stubbly cheek up to the cheek bone, and back down to his upper lip, savouring the feeling of his silky smooth skin. Suddenly, his lips twitched into a groggy smile, eyes squinting open slightly. "That tickles, Hazza." He chuckled. I squeaked, jolting backwards in surprise and ending up falling off the couch. I heard him laugh loudly and shift in his spot, looking down at me. I sat up, blushing furiously. 

"S-so-" I began to stutter nervously.

"It's all good, Harry." Louis smiled warmly. "I don't mind."

He sat up, ruffling my hair. "C'mon curly, let's go see if the boys could find the pop tarts." I smiled slightly, getting up to follow him out of the room. When we made it to the kitchen, the three boys were gathered around the kitchen table with sullen looks upon their faces. But when Louis and I walked into the room, their heads snapped up in relief.

"Tommo where do you keep your food?" Zayn moaned with pleading eyes. Louis laughed.

"You know where I keep my food."

"No, your good food." He glared. Louis chuckled again and walked over to the cupboard, expertly grabbing a package of pop tarts from the top shelf and shaking it mockingly at the three of them. They groaned, me laughing at the clueless boys and taking a seat at the table as well.

"I want strawberry." Niall called.

"Me too." Liam copied.

"I'll have raspberry." Zayn rushed after them.

"Alright, alright. Harry, what kind do you want?" Louis pulled out the necessary flavours, setting them on the counter and turning to look at me. 

"Ch-chocolate please." I answered quietly. He smiled at me, pulling out two chocolates.

"Good choice. Finally someone with good taste." He chuckled. I smiled a little, feeling quite pleased with myself for some reason. Louis toasted the pop tarts two at a time until they were all cooked and sat down with us. I tried to eat mine slowly because I knew we'd have to leave soon and I really didn't want the best day of my life to come to an end. 

**********

Sunday passed much too slowly to my liking and I knew deep in my gut it was because Louis wasn't there. Every time I was with Louis, time would pass much too fast and then when it was over, time seemed to move even slower than the last time he wasn't with me. And it felt that much worse after this sleepover that revealed he probably wasn't that mad at me, and the fact that he actually thought I was cute. I wanted to see him again so badly that I was desperate to go to school on Monday. Obviously that wasn't an often occurrence since Jonathan decided to hurt me even more on Mondays, saying he needed to make up for the weekend.

Still, as I waited for Louis to get here this morning, I actually felt giddy with excitement, unable to sit still. Finally, after fifteen minutes of nervous ticking, the door opened, revealing a freshly showered, flawless as ever, Louis. A relieved smile took over my face as the boy came and sat down with us, all nerves leaving my body once again. It was amazing how simply having him in the room could virtually eliminate my stress and worries, even if he didn't return my feelings, even if he didn't talk to me, he still calmed me down to an extent I didn't think possible. 

"Okay, let's go while we can still be early, I have some homework I didn't finish, might as well finish in class." Zayn stood up, snatching his keys off the table. Louis nodded, following him and Niall to the door.

"Wait, where's Liam?" Louis inquired.

"His mom gave 'em a ride. Said he doesn't spend enough time with her." Zayn chuckled. Louis laughed with him. The four of us walked off to Zayn's truck, Niall taking the front seat again and leaving Louis and I alone in the back. I scooched over all the way to the left and Louis surprised me by taking the middle seat right beside me. He looked down at me with a smile to which I returned.

Zayn drove us to the school in ten minutes, parking the truck in the nearly empty parking lot and getting out. "See you later lads, I'll be in English." He waved and stalked off towards the school. I snatched my bag from the back seat and closed the door, trailing behind Niall and Louis who were chatting animatedly about the upcoming footy game. I sighed, the former excitement of seeing Lou wearing off and putting me in a sour mood. Why had I been so pumped to see him again when I'd literally see him for ten minutes? I really had to get a life and realize that we weren't actually friends and get some of my own.

But I knew I probably wouldn't get anyone better than those four. Like I had already expressed, most of the students in this school hated my guts for being gay. Tears suddenly pricked in my eyes for no apparent reason. Why me? Why did I of all people have such shit luck? 

"Harry?" his voice suddenly broke my thoughts. I blinked rapidly to get rid of the tears swimming in my eyes, looking up at him. 

"Are you alright?" Louis asked concernedly, walking towards me. I nodded, not quite looking him in the eyes. "Come with us, Curly, you seem lonely."

He smiled at me, patting me on the shoulder. I nodded again, still believing whole heartedly it was only because of Zayn that he was even looking at me right now. I followed like a lost puppy behind their group, feeling more alone than I did before. I wish I knew why I felt so upset right now; it hadn't happened nearly as bad ever before, and it was most definitely a terrible feeling. 

But, just as I was going to give up and walk away, that oh so familiar wretched hand clamped hard around my wrist, and I knew very soon I'd be feeling a whole lot more terrible.

**********

~Louis' POV~

"Come with us, Curly, you seem lonely." I offered Harry gently, patting his shoulder for reassurance. The boy seemed so upset just a couple seconds ago, I just instantly wanted it to go away for a reason I still can't make sense of. Yes, I hated it when people were upset and always wanted to make them feel better to the best of my ability, but with Harry, it just about broke my heart to see the little bundle of joy distraught, and somehow, I seemed like the only one able to fix it. I was pretty sure the adorable boy had a little crush on me, which might be why he seemed to enjoy my presence so much, but I didn't feel annoyed or awkward that he felt that way, which confused me even more.

Still, I thought it might make him happier if I invited him long with us, although a glance behind me confirmed he still looked extremely sullen. I frowned, wondering why it hadn't worked. On any other day Harry would just about light up with glee if I invited him to hang out with us, but he looked just as upset as before, bothering me on a whole new level. I tried to think of maybe a better way to cheer him back up, maybe giving him a new pet name or talking to him a bit. Maybe I could split off from the group and hang with him alone for a little while? That seems a bit overboard. I thought. But I wanted to make the boy smile again and I was certain a bit of one on one time with him would do just that. I turned around to talk to him, and looked around in confusion when he wasn't right behind me.

I looked further down the hall and suddenly became overcome with rage. There he was, but he wasn't alone. I'm going to fucking kill them. I thought with malice. Jonathan was dragging the poor boy roughly down the hall, towards the change rooms, no doubt to beat Harry senseless. Not if I can do anything about it.

I stormed down the hall towards them, slowing down enough to follow them without them noticing me. I could see Harry struggling against his hold, small whimpers escaping his lips as he did so, making my heart clench. He knew what they were planning, he knew he was going to be hurt, he was used to it, and that made me unbelievably angry. He didn't deserve it one bit; he was kind hearted, he was cute, he never did anything wrong. It was sick that so many people thought so lowly of him when they didn't even know him.

I saw the three pull him into the men's change rooms, just as I had expected, and I followed them in, silently slipping into the room and hiding behind a wall.

"Hey faggot, long time no see." Jonathan said coldly. I heard rapid footsteps and a sudden crack, which had to be a punch to Harry, echoed around the room. He let out a cry of pain followed by a choked sob, causing my heart to twist again and another surge of rage to flow through my body. It sounded like he'd fallen to the ground, because the others laughed, the cracking of knuckles being heard.

"It's been awhile since you've felt pain, Styles. Let's see if I can make up for it in one beating without killing you first." My eyes widened at that, hands clenching into tight fists. That's it. I thought furiously. He's going to pay. I knew if I beat the shit out of him, the coward was bound to tell someone, so I tried to keep my anger under control and thought of a much better solution. 

I looked around the corner, making sure they couldn't see me, and slipped my phone out of my pocket.

**********

~Harry's POV~

Jonathan slapped me hard against the cheek he'd just hit, earning another cry of pain from me. Fear was ripping through my insides; he was going to hurt me worse than ever before, I just knew it. 

"Grab his arms, I can't have him squirming while I give him his punishment." Jonathan smirked, snapping his fingers at the two others. They obliged, coming forward and snatching my arms, pulling them too tight behind me. I sobbed, tears running down my face. Just get it over with! 

"I need you to look at me, gay boy." He sneered, grabbing hold of my shirt and yanking it upwards. I clenched my eyes shut, tears still slipping down my cheeks, refusing to look at him. I felt his fist connect with my other cheek, causing me to see stars. "Look at me!" he roared.

"Okay!" I choked peeling my eyes open to look up at his sick, twisted amused expression. But suddenly, something wrenched him backwards, throwing him into the wall with surprising strength. When I saw who it was, my heart leapt in relief. Louis. He shoved him into the wall, hitting Jonathan's face against the white marble before dropping him and turning towards me. He looked utterly furious, neck vein prominent, hands clenched into bone breaking fists and face contorted in anger.

"I'd let him go now, pussies, before I fuck you up too." Louis growled through clenched teeth. The grip on my arms was immediately released, the two brutes coming to stand beside their recovering friend. I fell forward, weak with relief, tears momentarily ceased. Louis was instantly by my side, lifting my gently off the ground and pulling me behind him. Jonathan was back on his feet, a trickle of blood running down his face but the smirk still present on his lips. He took a step forward, causing me to flinch and grab a hold of Louis' shirt with a whimper.

"I wasn't finished with him, Tomlinson. Hand him over, unless you'd like to join in." he chuckled. I saw Louis' hand squeeze into an even tighter fist, if it was possible. 

"Actually, micro dick, if you take one more step forward, I'll finish you. That's a promise." He snarled. That wiped the smile from his face.

"Look, if you really want to play the hero for the faggot, go ahead. But you do realize you're outnumbered, pretty boy?" 

"And you do realize that if you so much as lay a finger on me, half of the most popular students in the school will gladly beat you into a pulp for me? I don't think that would help your already plummeting popularity." Louis sassed right back.

Jonathan scowled furiously at Louis, who had obviously won the battle a long time ago. "So, why don't you leave right now before you make it any worse for yourself, dickhead?" he said finally, calming down visibly now that he knew they were beaten. Jon stomped away with a final glare, leaving Louis and I alone in the room. To my surprise, he turned around hastily, hands reaching to grab hold of my injured cheeks.

"Are you okay, Harry? That was a nasty hit, I'm sorry I didn't do something sooner." He gushed, staring at me with concern pooling in his pretty blue eyes. I shook my head.

"S-s'okay." I whispered, feeling so much gratification towards him, more than I ever had. Louis dropped his hands from my cheeks, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

"You're still hurt though. Ugh, I should've kicked his ass as soon as I saw him taking you but... I wanted to catch him off guard. You won't have to worry about him anymore though, I'm not letting him near you." He said firmly. I looked at him in confusion. 

"We're going to tell Zayn and he'll agree with me that you won't be alone in the halls from now on. At all." Louis said with finality.

"B-but-"

"No. You don't deserve this kind of treatment Harry, nobody does. You've put up with this long enough." And I couldn't argue with him. I really didn't want him angry at me again, and I know he wouldn't be the least bit pleased if I told him it wasn't necessary, that Jonathan would find me and hurt me one way or another. So I followed him from the change room without another word, apprehensive of what he had planned. 

"If you'd like, we can both tell him after school. Yes we have to tell him. He's your brother, Harry, he needs to know." He said after I'd opened my mouth to protest. "Now come on, we need to get to class."

**********

I was already sick and tired of my new "treatment" and it was only lunch. Of course it wasn't Louis who made it unenjoyable, it was his overprotective watch over me that made me want to tear my hair out. As soon as I was out of my classroom, he was there, glaring at Jonathan with malice. He was too close to me in the halls, it made me feel like I was being babysat. Nevertheless, I was surprised and somewhat relieved when I didn't see Louis waiting at my classroom when the lunch bell rang. I felt kinda selfish thinking so coldly towards Louis, but it just made me believe that I was right about him only doing it because I was his best friend's brother. If he actually cared about me, he would act more like a protective friend than a bloody bodyguard.

I sighed, knowing I was too far gone for Louis to take this chance to get some freedom, so I headed to lunch, ready to sit with Zayn's crew to make Louis happy. I entered the large flow of swarming bodies, once again looking for a break in the crowd, but before I could get far, I was suddenly wrenched to the side and into the guy's bathroom, slammed up against the wall. Maybe Louis was right, maybe I couldn't be alone in the halls without being found.

"So, I see you've made a new friend, queer. I'll admit, I never thought I'd see the day someone would take a liking to you." Jonathan leered and I whimpered. "But Louis Tomlinson, second most popular bloke in this entire wretched school? My, my I don't know what you did to capture his attention, but I can tell you right now it 'ain't gonna last."

His hand moved to clamp around the collar of my shirt, pulling me around to stare at me intensely with hate filled eyes. "You've certainly made it difficult for me to get my way, but I'm not giving up, no, you know I wouldn't give up that easy. You also know what will happen if I don't get my way, don't you faggot?" he threatened, holding my shirt collar impossibly tight. "So here's your warning. Stay away from Tomlinson, or I just might have to do something outlandish. To you or your little boyfriend, mattering on my mood."

Jonathan released his vice like grip on me and smoothly sauntered from the bathroom without another word. My heart hammered fearfully in my chest. He'd basically just threatened my life because he was losing. He told me I couldn't be around Louis or else he'd make me pay, much worse than he was planning before. My eyes filled with tears, feeling utterly defeated. I had no choice but to listen, because who knew what he had in store, who knew what he would do to me or Louis if he happened to try and save me like the last two times. Yes it was cowardly, yes it was letting him win this war, but I had no other choice. 

No matter how much pain it caused me to separate from him, I would do it if he'd leave Louis alone.

**********

Third period bell rang, signaling the end of English. I just wanted this day to end so I could release the tears I'd been holding since the start of lunch. Louis was going to hate me for ignoring him and giving in to Jonathan's threats, but I had to do it for Louis, I had to. Even if it meant adding one more person, the most important person in my world, to the long list of people who loathe me.

I quickly left my class as to not run into Louis on my way out, sullenly walking to the bathroom for a brief wee before my last class started. I entered the bathroom and sighed, walking over to the urinals.

For some reason, something felt off. I'd been feeling it for two hours now, but I'd brushed it off as guilt for ignoring Louis, although I could feel it stronger than ever now, it wasn't guilt. No, something was wrong, I just didn't know what. I needed to know, god did I ever, but it was merely a feeling in my gut; I didn't have the faintest clue of what was going to happen, but it was bad, I could feel it. I needed to get out of here. Something told me Jonathan was at the bottom of this and I couldn't be anywhere near him if I wanted to leave unscathed.

So I hastily washed my hands and scurried from the bathroom, heading for the school exit. The bell rang, but I ignored it, trying to head instead to the office so I wasn't told off for skipping. My heart was beating fast; it felt as if someone was watching me. I must be going insane; maybe there was nothing wrong, maybe I'm just tired. Maybe I'm just paranoid after what Jonathan said. But I was proved wrong once again when a clammy hand suddenly wrapped around my mouth, cutting off my panicked scream and clenching roughly around my face.

A pair of arms wrenched my hands behind me, crossing them and wrapping some sort of rope around them. I struggled desperately in their hold, screaming against the hand on my mouth, but it only squeezed harder against my cheeks. Once the knot was tied around my arms, the hand against my mouth moved slightly and another rope was abruptly thrust around my jaws, the hand moving from my mouth and tying a knew knot around my head. 

"Okay, he should be good now. Move him." Snapped the voice I'd been dreading to hear. The two arms grabbed my forearms harshly, yanking me upwards and pulling me through the halls. I wished someone was there, anyone, to help me. But the halls were completely empty and silent, although I knew deep in my mind it was highly unlikely that anyone would help me even if they were in the halls.

They took me outside, suddenly stopping on the concrete path.

"Fuck, where do we put him?" Jonathan hissed.

"I don't know! I thought we were just gonna throw him in the woods and be done with it!" One of his friends exclaimed.

"No, that's not good enough." He growled.

"Wait! Coach took his grade tens for outdoor ED today, the gym'll be empty." The other offered.

"Yeah, that'll do." They began to drag me again, this time in the direction of the gymnasium. No, no, no, this can't be happening. I thought frantically, tears bubbling from my eyes. They aren't, they can't. But I knew it was true, why, I had no idea. He told me this wouldn't happen if I stayed away from Louis, but he lied. I was going to die without a proper goodbye. I was going to die without telling him the truth. I was going to die knowing he was loaded at me. No, no, no, no.

I was full on sobbing now, or at least I would be were the gag not muffling every sound I made. They pulled me into the gym which was, just as they had said, completely empty. I thrashed against them, but they only held my arms tighter, no doubt bruising the tender skin. Please, please, please, don't do this. But they were I knew it.

Jonathan opened the equipment room door, revealing a whole load of soccer balls, baseball bats, and various other gym supplies. In the middle of the room sit a large bin which I knew from experience held basket balls. Jonathan stalked over to it and opened it up with a devilish smirk upon his lips. But, what? They were going to throw me in? They were going to just leave me in there and let me suffocate to death? No, no way. But they dragged me over to the nearly filled bin of basketballs, throwing me in as if I were one of them. I crashed onto them, flipping over instantly as to not get stuck with no room to breathe. 

"Bye, faggot. Won't be seeing you for a while." And with that he shut the lid and locked it.

I had no room; literally six inches between my face and the wooden lid. I panicked, my breathing rapidly increasing to wheezes. I'd always been claustrophobic when I was little, but I'd never been forced to test it, not like now. No, calm down you're running out of air. I couldn't, I couldn't. This can't be happening, no, please, I can't die in here. I begged mentally, although it was obviously useless. I was going to die in here.

I pulled viciously at my hands, trying to see if I could break the rope. It was no use. Even though it was extremely thin and somewhat brittle feeling, they were tied too tight. But I couldn't give up, even as I felt the bindings start to cut into my wrists, I kept pulling and pulling until they felt numb and suddenly, they actually broke. I sobbed in relief, squirming to get my hands up and on the knot of my gag. I felt a few drops of blood from the cuts drop and trickle down my face. My hands were shaking madly and still tingly from pulling so hard at the rope, but I was actually able to get it undone after ten minutes, gasping for air. My hands then pushed against the lid, hard, but it seemed my luck had run out. The thing didn't move an inch.

"Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "HELP PLEASE!" But no one came. No one could hear me in here, no one at all.

"Please!" I sobbed. "LOUIS!" I was panicking, sobbing all over the place. I was really gonna die. I wasn't getting out of here. I still hit the lid as hard as I possibly could and screamed again and again, but my air was running out. Half an hour it must have been and I was already running out of air. I love you Louis. I thought desperately. I was giving up. There was no getting out of here, no way. I was only shortening my final moments by struggling, it wasn't going to help me get out of here. Nothing would.

But then, the strangest thing happened.

I heard the click of a door, footsteps. You're just hearing things. I thought furiously. There's no one there, don't get your hopes up. But then it happened, the lid flung open. Light, bright, orange light, I'd never seen such a beautiful thing. I'm out, I'm alive, I'm fucking alive! I leapt out of the bin, knocking it over in the process, but not giving a single fuck about anything. I nearly ran into an old man who'd clearly been the one to open it, although instead of endlessly thanking him like I wanted to, I ran for my life out of that gym, ripping off the remaining pieces of string on my wrists and sprinting outside. I wasn't going home, nor was I going back in school, no, I was going to Zayn's truck. I'd be hidden from anyone who comes near, I can have the blissful silence I needed right now, but most of all, I'd see Louis in less than an hour. And mad at me or not, I needed to see Louis. 

My legs felt like jelly as I ran through the packed parking lot, searching desperately for Zayn's truck. If it weren't for the adrenaline coursing through my veins, I'd've most definitely collapsed by now. But once I saw his truck, I nearly collapsed right there with relief, slamming into the door and frantically grabbing for the handle. Please be open. I thought pleadingly, and thank god it was. I scrambled in, fumbling with my shaking limbs and managing to shut the door behind me, locking the rest with numb fingers. 

I crawled weakly over to the far left seat, slumping to the floor of the truck and curling in on myself. I buried my head into my knees, whimpers escaping my lips on their own accord, although no sobs or tears emitted me, to my surprise. After that whole ordeal, I'd've thought I'd be in full panic mode by now. But I was only shaking tremendously and unable to focus on anything. I felt dizzy and somewhat light headed, but not at all freaked out, which confused me immensely. Maybe I was in shock? It was possible. But I didn't really care right now though, all I wanted was Louis and a nice long rest.

It was over half an hour later when the bell finally rang and not much had changed on my part. The trembling nor the whimpers had let up and my wanting to see Louis had only grown stronger. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to stop the bubbling nerves from rising in my stomach. What if Louis was really angry with me? What if he didn't care I had almost died forty five minutes ago?

But I didn't have time to get myself worked up about it for long, because ten minutes later, the door finally swung open. That's when it all came crashing down on me.

I had almost died without seeing him one more time. I almost died without him knowing my feelings for him. In this moment I'd never felt such a strong need to have his safe arms wrapped around me and I knew right now I needed them around me.

"Harry." Louis said angrily. "Where the fuck have-" I couldn't handle it anymore; I knew he was furious with me, but I suddenly felt so scared and needed him to tell me it'd be alright. I launched myself across the seats and into his firm chest, wrapping my arms around his waist as tight as I could, and that's when I lost it.

Hysterical sobs of terror suddenly burst from me, tears rolling down my cheeks in rivers. Louis gasped, his arms shooting up in surprise, and not coming down to my horror. I need him to hold me. My head was buried in his torso, soaking his shirt with my tears.

"Harry? Harry what's wrong, is he hurt?!" Zayn asked Louis frantically.

"I-I don't know, he just-"

"Harry, are you hurt? Come here, look at me." I felt Zayn trying to pry my arms from around Louis, but I just held onto him tighter, squirming further into his chest with a feeble shake of my head. Louis arms were still absent around me, spiking my nerves that he didn't want them around me.

Zayn sighed in frustration. "Fine, okay, just... Maybe he'll be better when we get home. Louis, try and calm him down."

"Yes, of course." Louis said softly, and finally his arms came down to wrap around my waist. I whimpered in relief, scooching up until my head was buried in his neck so he could smoothly scoop me into his arms and take a seat in the back. 

"C'mere love, shh, it's alright." He moved me so I was sitting in his lap, head tucked under his chin and arms wrapped around my sides so he could cradle me to him. "Where's Niall and Liam?"

"They both got a ride to Alex's, they're staying there for the night." Zayn answered as he started the truck. I felt Louis nod and begin to card his fingers gently through my hair. Even now that I was as close to Louis as possible, I still couldn't seem to slow the sobs that were escaping my lips.

"Don't cry, darling," he cooed. "I hate it when you cry. Shh." I felt his lips ghost across my exposed cheek, and I fisted his shirt tightly. 

"Can you look at me, sweet heart?" Louis stroked my cheek gently with his thumb, rubbing slow circles onto my cheek bone. "I want to see your pretty green eyes."

I slowly, hesitantly, lifted my head to gaze at him with tear filled eyes, sobs still bubbling from my chest. He pressed his lips to my forehead, wiping away the tears on my cheeks with gentle fingers. "See? It's okay, Hazza, I've got you."

My lip quivered uncontrollably and I pushed past his hands and back into his neck, snuggling into the warm skin. He hushed me again, rubbing my back until the sobs turned to sniffles and my body was readying itself for sleep. I slipped my eyes closed, feeling drowsiness sweep over me and Louis seemed to notice. His hand moved to massage my side gently, the other hand moving stroke my cheek again. 

"Don't fall asleep on me, baby. You still have to tell us what's got you so worked up." He said softly. I whimpered, a tear dripping onto his collarbone at the reminder of what had happened.

"No, no, not now, Har. When we get back, it's alright." He immediately cooed, seeing me start to panic again. I sniffled, burying further into his neck.

"But, tell me curly, you aren't hurt are you?" Louis asked softly. I shuffled my hands awkwardly on his chest, not sure whether I wanted to show him or not. But when I felt him start to pull away, I instantly squeaked and pulled out my wrists, setting them down on his arms. He very gently grabbed one and turned it over, suddenly gasping.

"What the- Harry?" he exclaimed in horror. I buried my head further into his chest. His fingers barely touched the area where there must've been large purple bruises shaped like hands. I grabbed his shirt again, needing to be as close as possible.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Zayn questioned immediately. I whimpered and shook my head against his chest.

"It's- it's nothing. I'll tell you at the house." Louis lied quietly and Zayn huffed angrily. I nuzzled against his collarbone, wanting to sleep again. Maybe if he didn't notice, I could sleep on him at least until we got to the house. My eyes closed once more, breathing calming down into deep breaths. Louis' ran his fingers through my hair, unseeingly making me even sleepier.

"Harry?" he said after a moment. I didn't answer, wanting to sleep. "Don't fall asleep, Harry. Do you wanna go to my house or your house?"

I sighed, peeling open my eyes to make him happy. "Y-yo-urs." I croaked, surprised at how scratchy my voice sounded. Louis stroked my cheek again.

"Alright, love. Zayn, can we go to mine instead of yours?"

"I guess." He sighed. "In that case, we're here."

The truck suddenly slowed down and stopped, meaning we were at Louis', just as Zayn had said. I laid my head sleepily on Louis' shoulder, too groggy to really comprehend what was happening. I felt him open the door, getting out of the truck with me still in his arms. He walked forwards but suddenly stopped when a hand grabbed the one wrapped around my torso.

"Here, I need to talk to him, I'll take him." And all of a sudden, Louis was letting go of me. I didn't register it right away, what with being half asleep, but half way in Zayn's arms, I jolted upright, immediately wide awake.

"N-no!" I shrieked, thrashing in Zayn's, apparently, not so firm grip on me. He yelled and I slipped from his hold, nearly crashing to the ground were Louis not there. He caught me by my under arms and I instantly wrapped my arms and legs around him again.

"Fuck, Harry." Louis huffed, holding me against him. I flinched and started to tremble again, tears prickling behind my lids.

"No, no, I'm sorry, don't cry." He immediately hushed me, noticing my actions. "Don't cry."

I sniffled, burying my head back in his neck. I heard Zayn curse.

"Louis, I need to know why he's doing this." Zayn hissed.

"I know, Zayn, but he clearly doesn't want to talk right now." Louis answered calmly and I mentally thanked him a thousand times over.

"I still need to talk to him, he's my brother." He said through clenched teeth. "Hand him over."

I shook my head in his neck again, whimpering a small "no".

"I-I know, but, I can't do that." Louis stuttered.

"Well you'll have to. I'll say it again, he's my brother." 

"That doesn't matter Zayn. Please, he's not ready yet. Just-just let me take him and I'll coax it out of him. He shouldn't be forced into it, you know that, he's already upset." Louis pleaded. I couldn't be more grateful for what he was doing right now. He was absolutely right; I wasn't anywhere near ready to recount something so traumatic that happened to me literally an hour prior, especially not to Zayn. He had no idea why Jonathan would ever do such a thing and it would just take so much more time to explain something else extremely uncomfortable for me. I would definitely be much more willing to tell Louis, for sure. But I didn't understand at all why he was defending me so strongly.

He was possibly risking his friendship with Zayn; I could feel the tension between the two of them, especially Zayn who seemed utterly furious with the boy, but he showed no signs of giving in to his demands. It wasn't worth it at all, I wasn't worth it. Zayn and Louis had been friends for almost five years, I didn't want to be the one to destroy that. Plus, he was literally only comforting me because I was clinging to him, why did he think he had to take it so far?

I heard Zayn sigh angrily. "Louis, I don't like this."

"I know you don't, but I also know you don't want to lose his trust, and that just might happen if you force him. It's not right."

"You-You're right I guess." Zayn said quietly. Louis sighed in relief.

"I'll tell you everything once he tells me, I promise. Can you open the door for me? It should be unlocked."

"Yeah, sure." Zayn said, defeated.

"I'm sorry, Zayn." Louis whispered and I felt an immense rush of guilt course through me.

"It's okay Louis, go talk to him, I'll watch the telly." And I heard him stalk into the living room, leaving Louis to carry me downstairs. All of my former tiredness had been replaced with guilt and worry. I didn't know if Louis was lying to Zayn and that he was going to force it out of me the minute we sat down. I didn't know if he was furious with me, and if he was I didn't know what I was going to do with myself.

I was about to find out though, as Louis sat down with a sigh, still holding me close to him. I scrambled into a more comfortable position, me basically straddling him, but I immediately threw my arms around his neck.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't want y-you to fight with Zayn. I-I'll go talk to him, I'm s-sorry." I rambled, desperate for forgiveness.

"No, Harry, it's not your fault at all, don't apologize, love." He cooed, stroking his fingers through my hair as I cringed into his neck. "Zayn's just worried about you, he's not mad at me or you, and I'm not mad at you either."

I sighed in relief, snuggling into his neck.

"But I did mean what I said. You can tell me when you're ready, but I need to know by today." I nodded into his neck, grabbing hold of his shirt again. "Why don't you start off by telling me why you avoided me when I told you not to?"

I stiffened slightly in his arms, shivering at the reminder of Jonathan's warning. I could tell he was still slightly mad I'd ignored him. No doubt that's why he started off with that question. I was going to answer him though, so he might be less angry with me.

"When I w-was going to lunch, I-I was confused when you d-didn't show up. I didn't w-want you to get m-mad at me for ignoring you so-"

"I wouldn't have gotten mad." Louis whispered. "But keep going." 

"I started to g-go to the cafeteria because I k-knew you would be there, but J-Jonathan f-found me and, and-" 

"Shh, calm down, it's alright." He soothed me as I started to stutter.

"He dragged me into th-the bathroom and t-threatened me that if I w-was around you he-he'd punish me w-worse than before and b-bring you into it. He d-didn't like that he was losing, th-that I of all people was b-beating him because of y-you. I didn't want him to h-hurt you when it's my burden, I-I'm the one who sh-should have to be punished." I buried my head in his chest, feeling guilty again. It could have been Louis. I don't know why he decided on me but Louis could've been the one dead right now. A choked sob left my mouth at the thought of Louis dead in my place, I couldn't imagine being the one responsible for something like that.

"Oh darling," he breathed, pulling me closer to him as I cried into his chest. "I'm so sorry I didn't come in time. My dickhead of a teacher kept me back for disrupting the class. I would've never let him do that to either of us, never. I'll tell you a secret. You see, Jonatan doesn't know how to fight at all. He doesn't know how to block hits, and he's not agile enough to dodge them. All he ever does is use all his force on those he pictures weak, people who can't do anything about it. I would have him pinned to the ground before he could lay a single finger on me if I knew he wanted to hurt me. You should've told me, love, I would've protected you. You don't deserve to be punished at all."

I molded into Louis' embrace, his words calming me down exponentially. I still sniffled and cuddled further into his chest, appreciating his soothing touch. 

"Are you ready to tell me what happened now, Haz? You can trust me, I promise." he said gently. I very hesitantly nodded into his collar bone, hiding my face in his neck. He squeezed me briefly for reassurance.

"J-Jonathan lied when he said he'd punish me if I was around you." I started off, my voice beginning to quiver. "H-he- during fourth period today, he tried to k-kill me."

**********  
~Louis' POV~  
My eyes widened to the size of saucers at the boy's words. He-what?!

"W-what?" I choked, at a loss for words.

"Jonathan f-found me again just before fourth p-period. His friends t-tied me up and t-took me outside. Th-they were talking about w-where they wanted to put me a-and they decided the g-gym was the p-perfect place since it was e-empty and- and-" Harry cut off with a sob, trembling with almighty tremors shaking his body. I hushed him, still in horror of what he was saying, and pulled him so he was cradled in my lap again, stroking a hand through his curls. It broke my heart to see him so upset; it made me want to do anything I could to fix it. Just this past twenty minutes I'd used pretty much every pet name I could think of and every method of calming him down I knew. It seemed to be working until he was somehow worked up again if I did anything that suggested I was angry with the poor boy. I was quickly learning, it seemed, I couldn't be mad at him, and I actually found it upsetting that he thought I could be mad at him for the simplest things.

It was right now, of all times, that I was actually coming to terms with my strange feelings towards him, and I was almost for sure that I fancied him. A lot. And it didn't make sense because we'd barely done anything to get close at all, but I knew now I felt as if I would do anything to protect him, to stop his tears from running down his cheeks, and that was far from platonic feelings.

"Keep going, baby, I've got you." I whispered.

"They took m-me to the gym and l-literally threw me into the basketball b-bin, l-locked it, a-and left, just like that." He began to sob again, but I was too focused on his words to do anything about it. He was going to kill Harry. He wanted him dead because he wasn't getting his way. Harry, the sweet, innocent boy who never did anything to deserve the beatings he got, least of all death, had it nearly forced upon him because a sick, twisted bastard thought he deserved it. A white hot fury coursed through my veins, so intense I almost ran out of the room to punish Jonathan myself, but I stayed still. That was why he'd nearly tackled me in the car. That's why he was, and still is, sobbing in terror. He nearly died in one of the most terrible ways possible, at the hands of one of his fellow students.

"He's fucking dead." I growled, holding the hysterical boy close. "He's not going to get away with that, not if I have anything to do about it."

"N-no!" Harry sobbed. "He'll h-hurt y-you, don't, i-it's okay."

"No its not, Harry not at all. He wasn't getting away with hurting you, he crossed the line a long time ago. If he's not in jail by next week, I'll personally beat the fuck out of him, I'm not kidding."

"N-no." Harry cried in defeat. His sobs were slowly hinting towards hysteria and I took this time now try and calm him down.

"Shh, darling you're safe now, don't cry." I cooed, cradling his face with my hand.

"B-but-" he choked, but I interrupted him with another hush, pulling his face back into my neck. 

"No, sweetheart, I think it's time for you to sleep." I whispered, starting to lay down so he would sleep better. He continued to cry into my chest for a while; it was at least fifteen minutes until he fell asleep. All the while I stroked his cheeks, whispered calming words, and rubbed his tummy, trying my very hardest to stop the heart wrenching sobs from escaping his lips, and I was extremely relieved when they did. Small puffs of breath fanned onto my collarbone as Harry slept soundly on my chest. His eyes were red and swollen underneath his eyelids, cheeks raw and tear stained. Even though he wasn't crying mercilessly, it still broke my heart to see such a sweet boy look so pitiful.

I decided I'd call Zayn down to talk to me now. I didn't want to wake Harry up, so I gently removed my phone from my pocket and dialed Zayn's number.

"Hello?" Zayn's tired voice sounded through the speaker. 

"Hey, come down stairs so I can talk to you. But be quiet, Harry's asleep." So Zayn headed down within seconds, coming to sit down at the small space by my feet. I scooted up slightly as to not disturb Harry, but enough to sit up properly.

"Okay, I'll start off slowly, because there's some other things you don't know other than what happened today." I said quietly.

"What? What else is he keeping from me?" Zayn said angrily.

"I'm sure it won't come as a shock to you, I sure as hell suspected it, although looking back now I don't know why I didn't do something about it sooner." I said sadly.

"What is it Lou?" He sighed.

"Jonathan doesn't just ridicule Harry, he hurts him. Badly." I said without emotion in my voice. Zayn's eyes widened and he stood up suddenly.

"That little bastard! I'm going to kick his sorry ass into next week, c'mon I know exactly where he is." Zayn growled, stomping over to the door.

"Wait, Zayn! I still need to tell you what happened to Harry!"

"I don't care! That dick has been hurting him for god knows how long, I need to make him pay. Do you not think he deserves to be beaten to a pulp?" Zayn stopped at the door, glaring at me.

"Of course I think he deserves it." I hissed. "But please just come sit and listen. If you still want to hurt him after, go right ahead, but I think there are better ways of punishments then sinking down to his level."

Zayn pinched the bridge of his nose before stalking back over to the couch, slumping down angrily. "Fine, tell me."

And so I did, almost unable to contain my anger just like the first time I'd heard it. Zayn was absolutely livid, nearly shouting his head off were Harry not peacefully sleeping upon my chest. Once he'd gotten over his anger, the poor lad looked like he himself wanted to cry. That really got me; Zayn was my best friend, he had been since before we started high school, and I knew from experience he wasn't one to cry easily. I wanted nothing more than to pull him into a hug and make him happy again, just like I felt the intense need to do so with Harry. But I really wanted Harry to sleep, he needed to sleep, so I couldn't jump to my best friend's aid just yet.

"I can't believe I let this happen." Zayn shook his head in shame. "If I had only watched him more closely, if I'd actually done something about Jonathan, he wouldn't've had to deal with... everything he's had to deal with."

"It's not your fault, Zayn. I could've done something too, hell I should've kicked his ass the moment I saw him touch Harry at all." I tried to coax him. But he shook his head again, burying his head in his hands.

"No, you don't understand. He's my baby brother, I'm the only one he has left, I'm supposed to protect him, it's my job and I clearly failed." I couldn't stand to see Zayn so distraught, it literally had me at a loss for words. But one sentence he said confused me.

"You still have your dad, he's still helping you, isn't he?" I questioned him. Zayn shook his head.

"He is but-" he cut off with a long sigh, running his fingers stressfully through his hair. "He and Harry are all I have left but Harry, he's- he's adopted Louis."

I gasped, mouth dropping open in shock. "W-what?" Zayn sighed again.

"My mom wasn't able to have any more kids after me, but she wanted more, so she adopted Harry after plenty of paperwork of course. He'd lost everyone close to him in a fire and was the most innocent and timid kid I'd ever seen. For the longest time I was more protective of him than anyone I knew, especially after mom died, but in the last few years when I became so popular, we've separated, and it seems he doesn't even trust me enough to help him anymore."

Zayn put his head in his hands, shaking it slowly and tugging at the perfect quiff on his head. I couldn't believe his words, not a single one of them. Somehow, I felt even stronger feelings towards him than ever before. I didn't know why, but I did one hundred percent. Zayn still seemed quite upset and I knew why; he felt like he wasn't being a good brother, and he most definitely wasn't. What happened wasn't anyone's fault other than Jonathan's and Zayn was right, he was going to pay.

"Again Zayn, you couldn't have done anything about Jonathan. He was going to get his way one way or another with Harry. I have an idea that will put him in his place though. And I can most definitely help you get closer with him again. All you have to do is care for him more. I know he prefers to be alone and do things for himself, but you can't expect him to follow you around if you don't show any interest towards him." I offered. Zayn nodded and slowly lifted his head to meet my gaze.

"Yeah, I suppose so. What's this plan of yours?"

I went through it thoroughly with him, not skipping over a detail, and by the end he was just as sure as I was that it was going to work and it was a perfect way of winning this never ending battle. He finally seemed to cheer up after that but I started to feel nervous. I knew I had to tell Zayn about my feelings for Harry, but how would he react? I was his best mate, yes, but what if he didn't trust me anymore to keep my hands off him?

"Zayn..." I decided I'd get it over with now to get it off my chest and nerves bubbled in my chest like a flock of birds.

"Yeah, Lou?"

"I-I think I fancy Harry. A lot." I mumbled, a blush rising to my cheeks. To my intense surprise, Zayn smiled.

"I know." He chuckled. My eyes widened and I gave him a questioning look.

"What?"

"Lou, I practically know you inside and out. The moment you started defending him I knew you'd start to fancy him in no time." he said lightly.

"But-how?" I sputtered.

"Niall and Liam don't care nearly as much as you do for him, yes they do care about him, but you seem to want to do practically anything to make the boy happy. I also know for a fact that he likes you too, I'm sure you've noticed too, he's a little obvious at times. I can see it, I have seen it for a long time now, and I say this as seriously as I can, I trust you, Louis." He smiled at me again.

I blinked, uncomprehending of his words. He-he trusted me?

"As soon as he wakes up, tell him your feelings and you two can get together like I've been waiting for you to. I trust you to take care of him." And with that, he got up and left the room with a wink. Well, that didn't exactly go as expected.

**********

~Harry's POV~

I jolted awake suddenly when I heard a door close shut, thinking Louis might've left me, but I relaxed when I noticed I was literally on top of him. I cuddled into his chest again, feeling his nimble fingers begin to run through my curls.

"Hello, Haz." He mumbled. I yawned in response. "Are you feeling any better?"

I hesitantly nodded into his neck. I was still worried about what Louis was going to do about Jonathan, but a short rest seemed to calm me down a fair bit. In fact, looking back on it now I feel a deep blush creep onto my cheeks remembering my hysterical, clingy actions forcing themselves upon Louis. It must've been so annoying to him. I still felt like I needed Louis' touch to remain sane, but I didn't want to force myself upon him when I didn't need him.

I began to extricate myself from him, blushing a bright crimson and avoiding his confused blue eyes. "S-sorry." I squeaked.

"No." he suddenly stopped me and pulled me back down to his chest. "Don't move, Curly. You're warm."

My eyes widened as he began to massage my curls again. Did... Did he actually not mind me being this close? My heart fluttered in my chest at his soothing touch, unable to resist snuggling back into him. He just continued to rub my head gently, humming a soft tune under his breath.

"Harry?" Louis abruptly asked, moving his arms to wrap around my back. I nodded against his collarbone to show he had my attention.

"Do you like me?" I choked at his words, heart thumping in panic. Did he know?! 

"Ye-yeah y-you're a-" I stuttered, trying to play it off as something else.

"No, you know, fancy like, Haz." He stopped my lie in its tracks. I let out a shuddering sigh, clenching my eyes shut and shakily nodding against his chest. There was no point in lying, he already suspected me. There goes one of the last people who actually see me as a friend. I felt Louis suddenly slip his hands around my cheeks and pull my face up to look into his. I did so reluctantly, staring at him with fearful eyes. To my surprise he smiled softly, looking at me with kind, slightly relieved eyes.

"I think I like you too, Hazza. A lot." He mumbled, all the while staring into my shocked eyes. He... He fancied me too? I just stared at him in shock, mouth dropping open. Was he joking? Was he just trying to make me upset? But apparently he wasn't, because he gently soothed me by running his hands over my cheeks softly.

"I'm dead serious, babe, I really like you." Louis whispered again, unable to keep the smile from his lips. And so was I. A small smile crept its way onto my face for the first time on this wretched day. He actually felt the same way. My heart beat passionately in my chest, relief and love filling me to the brim. But then, I remembered something. Zayn. The smile was instantly wiped off my face.

"B-but Z-Zayn, he hasn't-he w-won't-" I choked, lip quivering slightly. Louis frowned and ran his thumbs across my cheeks soothingly.

"Shh, I already talked to Zayn, and he knows everything including our feelings. Said he'd expected it all along." He chuckled softly. My eyes widened at his words, unable to comprehend that Zayn actually accepted the fact that we, his best friend and his own brother, were going to... Date?

"R-really?" I asked him, calming down a bit. Louis nodded.

"Absolutely." He smiled. "And, if you're okay with I'd love to take you on a date next week."

His thumbs, that were still absentmindedly stroking my cheeks, moved to gently trace my lips that had stretched into another smile. I nodded vigorously, a giggle bursting from my chest. Despite still feeling terrified about today's earlier events, I felt so happy I swear my heart could beat right from my chest. But just when I thought I couldn't be happier, Louis spoke.

"Does that mean you'll be my boyfriend?" his fond blue eyes peered up at me with adoration, a small smile touching his lips. I nodded again, cheeks flushing a light pink, and cuddled back into his chest. He chuckled, hands entangling themselves back into my hair. I felt his lips press onto the top of my head.

"I'm so glad you're okay. You had us proper terrified when you burst from Zayn's truck. You seem to be fine to me, but you don't have any other injuries do you?" he whispered concernedly, fingers carding themselves through my hair once more. I sighed, clenching my eyes shut and slowly shaking my head against his neck. That feeling of fear and dread once more pulsed through my veins. Louis was going to do something and I just couldn't take not knowing. He was going to put Jonathan in his place, and no matter how much I loved him for wanting to do so, Jonathan had nearly killed me a mere three hours ago. Who's to say he won't try again, or worse, try and kill Louis instead?

But these thoughts were interrupted by a new one. What if Jonathan knew where I lived? Or...Where Louis lived? My breath caught in my throat and my hands clutched for his t-shirt again.

"L-Louis?" I squeaked, fear prickling inside my chest.

"Hmm?" he hummed.

"Does J-J-Jonathan know w-where you l-live?" I felt him tense slightly underneath me and he didn't answer for a moment. I lifted my head to stare worriedly down at him and he seemed to be thinking.

"Uh, he came to a party once," I whimpered, tears threatening to fill my eyes. "But I doubt he remembers, he was pretty pissed."

I wheezed, losing control of my breathing once again. "W-what if he, h-he knows w-where-" a choked sob left my lips and Louis immediately sat up, cradling me to his chest again.

"No, baby, he won't come here, calm down." He hushed in my ear, rubbing slow circles into my back. I shook my head shakily against his chest.

"H-he could find out I'm n-not in there a-and he k-knows where I live. H-he could c-come and s-see I'm n-not there and c-come here and-" Fearful tears spilled from my eyes, splashing onto Louis' collarbone. Louis mopped them up with the pads of his thumbs, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead.

"No, sweetheart, it's not gonna happen. Don't cry, shh. Even if he did come here he wouldn't be able to get in. I've got several alarm systems and a perfectly good fist." He cooed before chuckling. It didn't do much to stop the hiccupping sobs from leaving my lips.

"N-no! H-he'll hurt y-you." I croaked, tearfully cringing into his neck. I felt him shake his head, fingers still stroking across my cheeks.

"Love, I'm serious, I would have him pinned on the floor before he could even throw the first punch. You're safe here, we're safe." Louis nuzzled his head into my neck, pressing small kisses to the skin as to calm me down. It was working, to a certain degree; I still felt stiff and tense at the thought Jon could find me at any minute. But I quickly became sleepy after fifteen minutes of whispered sweet nothings and gentle caresses. Louis was now simply humming a soft tune into my ear, hand absentmindedly rubbing my side. He'd turned the TV on at some point, though my attention was only partially devoted to it. 

I felt my eyelids droop once more, feeling exhausted despite it only being about seven at night, although a yell followed by a crash made me nearly leap out of my skin. Louis jumped as well, arms subconsciously tightening around my torso.

"Don't worry, Haz, it's just the boys. Zayn wanted to inform them of everything tonight. I should probably get them dinner soon, before they-" he cut off with a gasp, pulling back to look at me with concern.

"You haven't eaten anything all day!" he gushed, biting his lip. "Ugh, I can't believe I forgot, you must be starving."

I shrugged, shaking my head. I hadn't really thought about it either, in fact I didn't feel hungry at all. Jonathan's given me more important things to worry about.

"M'not hungry." I mumbled, curling back into his figure.

"You can't not eat anything, Harry. We've got to go and make something for dinner anyways." He responded fondly, playing with the curls on my head. I sighed, pulling at the hem of my shirt, unwilling to move an inch from where I was right now.

"Would you consider going upstairs if I gave you a kiss?" Louis pulled back once more to slowly press his forehead against mine. I widened my eyes slightly, biting my lip.

"Maybe..." I replied playfully, but timidly. Louis chuckled, his warm breath fanning across my slightly parted lips. They were so close to his. I thought excitedly. Was he serious? Did he really want to kiss me?

"Tell you what." He whispered, face coming impossibly closer to mine so that our lips were mere inches apart. "I'll order some pizza and we can go upstairs and hang with the boys some too."

Even before his offer I wanted him to kiss me more than anything so of course I agreed, nodded frantically against his forehead. As soon as I did so, he closed the small gap between us and pressed his soft lips to mine. It was like heaven, having him this close to me, finally being able to kiss his beautiful, plump lips. He tasted like mint gum, obviously having had some recently, and something I couldn't put my finger on. But I didn't care. I was kissing him and he was kissing me back, that was all that mattered in this moment.

Louis shuffled back until his back was leant against the arm of the couch before gently moving me to straddle him. My fingers tangled themselves in his feathery hair as our lips moved in sync, the kiss lasting much longer than I had expected. His hands stroked my cheeks gingerly, making it clear he didn't intend to go any further at the moment. It was like that for about a minute, before a subtle cough sounded from the doorway. I squeaked and jerked away, panting. Louis gave me a small smile before turning to look at our visitor with slightly swollen lips. It was Zayn.

"So, I'm glad you've got your feelings all sorted out and all," he smirked. "But I think I can speak on all the lads' part and say if you don't make us dinner in the next ten minutes, we're making it, and I'm sure you'd rather not have a burned kitchen."

Louis chuckled, gently removing me from his lap and standing up. "I'll be right there. Do the boys know everything now?" 

"Yep and they're ready to play their parts too. Just get your fat ass up here and make us food." He laughed.

"Actually, I was planning on ordering a pizza." Louis offered, turning to offer me a smile. I blushed.

"That sounds great. If you'd like I'll set up a movie for us to watch? How does Annabelle sound?" he teased. I looked up nervously at Louis, gaging his reaction. I wasn't exactly fond of scary movies, but maybe it wouldn't be that bad if Louis was there. He laughed and turned to look at me, raising his eyebrows. I nodded slightly, looking up at him with hesitant eyes. He smiled, looking back at Zayn.

"We'll be there in a minute, go set up the TV and get Liam to phone the pizza place. He's the only person in this house capable of remembering those weird ass toppings you feel the need to order." Louis sassed playfully.

"Alright, alright." He laughed, heading back upstairs. Louis reached down and offered me his hand, pulling me to my feet next to him. He wrapped an arm securely around my waist.

"Ready, love?" Louis whispered, squeezing my waist. I nodded, gazing up at his blue eyes. He kept his arm around me as we traipsed up the stairs, pressing his warm body against mine. I was excited to hang with the boys again, to be honest. It would be refreshing to sit down and watch a movie, just like always, and maybe even cuddle with Louis some more. I was already beginning to feel normal, although Louis had a lot to do with that.

We walked into the living room where Liam and Niall were splayed across the only couch, Zayn standing and flicking through Netflix. 

"Aye, Tommo! Hey Harry!" Niall called from the couch, wiggling his eye brows. Louis chuckled, bringing me over to the front of the couch. Liam smiled at us.

"You know, Zayn wasn't the only one suspecting something between you too, and I must say it looks a lot more right to see you two together." He mused.

"Yeah, all you need now is a ship name." Niall said thoughtfully.

"You can be Houis." Zayn laughed.

"Or Stommo." Liam offered.

"I like Tyles." Niall chortled.

"Yeah, you guys can work on that." Louis chuckled, sitting down in front of the couch and pulling me down with him. "Have you called the pizza place, Liam?"

"I'll do that right now. Zayn, can you pass me my phone?" he responded. Louis situated himself so he had his back pressed flat against the front of the couch with his legs spread out in front of him. He gave me a soft smile before patting the floor between his legs. I blushed and obligingly crawled between his legs, laying my head back so it was tucked underneath his chin. His arms slinked around my stomach, effectively spooning me from behind. I cuddled back into him, happily resting my head in the crook of his neck.

"You're just a snuggly little curly boy, hmm?" he whispered against my cheek where he was nuzzling his head into. I giggled, nodding playfully against him.

"The pizza should be here in about fifteen minutes." Liam informed us, hanging up the phone.

"Kay. Here's the movie, I'll go get us some beer. Harry, do you want a Pepsi?" Zayn said from behind the couch.

"Y-yes please." I said quietly, but loud enough for Zayn to hear me.

"I'll have one too if you don't mind, Zayn." Louis called over his shoulder. I turned my attention to the opening credits on the screen. I was almost certain I was going to end up not watching it, as scary movies weren't my favourite thing in the world. I looked down at Louis' forearm, taking notice to several tattoos plastered onto the tanned skin. I hesitantly reached out and began tracing one of a bird, my personal favourite of them. When I reached the edge of the tattoo, Louis shifted his arm slowly to reveal the rest of it, and I knew he must be watching me. I just continued tracing it and running my finger across the intricately inked feathers until the doorbell sounded, meaning the pizza was here.

"I'll get it, does anyone have cash?" Niall said, pausing the movie.

"There's a twenty on the table, Nialler." Louis responded quietly, seeming distracted. I heard Niall get up to answer the door, so I resumed tracing his tattoos. I yawned absentmindedly, not overly tired, but a bit bored. Although I was quickly awakened by the heavenly smell of fresh pizza suddenly wafting into the room. The boys all leapt to their feet, running to greet the pizza holding Niall. I sighed, starting to get up when Zayn peered over the scrambling boys to look at us.

"Hey, what kind do two you want?" he called.

"Ch-cheese." I stuttered, apparently too quiet for him.

"What?" 

"We'll both have cheese, thanks mate." Louis called for me, pressing a kiss to my cheek. I smiled, taking the pizza and immediately taking a bite. Now that the pizza was right in front of me, I was absolutely starving and eager to sink my teeth into the gooey, cheesy goodness. The first piece was gone within minutes, but I was still just as hungry as before I'd taken the first bite. My stomach growled loudly, loud enough for Louis to hear apparently, because he looked down at me with a frown.

"You must've been so hungry, babe. Do you want another piece?" he asked concernedly, finger stroking my knuckles. I nodded shyly, shuffling off his lap so he could get up. I felt his warmth leave me as he stood up and I fought back a shiver. The room was quite chilly without Louis' safe arms around me.

**********

It was about an hour later of detailed creepy scenes, jump scares, and a whole lot of burying my head into Louis shoulder, and I was now cowering into the fluffy blanket Louis had got when the boys said we should get cozy. It would be quite cozy with all of us spread out across the carpet, each with our own comforter we'd be using for the night, were there not a terrifying movie blasting through Louis' speakers. Louis hadn't moved much from his position against the couch, but I now stay buried underneath the blanket, head tucked into his chest and hands clutching his t-shirt. On the up side, I was no longer freezing and I had Louis to pine over me and make sure I was okay.

"You alright, sweet pea?" he gently pulled my head from the covers to look at me fondly. I nodded, blinking slowly from the tiredness sweeping over me. I snuggled close to Louis and laid my head on his collarbone. 

"You've had a pretty rough day, you must be so tired." He whispered, carding his fingers through my hair. "Why don't we get ready for bed?"

I quietly agreed and we shuffled from underneath the blanket to stiffly stand up. Louis informed the boys we were just putting on our pajamas and stalked up the stairs to the bathroom. I suddenly stopped in front of the mirror, a thought coming to mind.

"I-I didn't bring anything." I said quietly, looking to Louis. He smiled at me.

"That's okay, I have plenty of pajamas to share, or else you could use some of Zayn's if you rather." He offered. I blushed and looked down at my feet shyly.

"Y-yours?" I asked sheepishly. He giggled, stroking my cheek gently.

"I'll go grab you some. There's a spare toothbrush under the sink as well, you can get ready while I'm gone." He swiftly walked from the room, leaving me to brush my teeth. I did so hastily, eager to cuddle with Louis again, and he returned a few minutes later, freshly dressed in a pair of striped pajama bottoms. He handed me a clean pair of boxers and a pair of pajama bottoms similar to his own.

"I didn't think you'd need a shirt, seeing as you usually sleep without one." He blinked. "That sounded a lot creepier than I intended."

I laughed, taking the clothes into my hands and stepping just outside the bathroom to change. I slipped on the clothes, reveling in the soft fabric of Louis' clothes hanging perfectly upon my hips. But with my bare torso completely exposed, I suddenly felt somewhat nervous to return in the room with Louis. 

My torso wasn't something to ogle at; sure, I was lean, but I had a little tummy and showed no signs of getting even the hint of abs of any kind. I'd never felt insecure about it before, although it was different somehow now that I knew he felt the same way. I prodded at the slight bulge and bit my lip, when a pair of hands abruptly shot towards me, jabbing my stomach playfully. I squeaked in surprise and squirmed at the ticklish gesture, looking up at Louis with hesitant eyes.

"Whatcha doin?" he chirped, wiggling his fingers slightly to tickle me further. A giggle bubbled from my lips, hands scrambling to grab a hold of the ones attached to my abdomen. He moved them to gently stroke my sides up and down, causing me to completely relax under his hands. He pulled me into his side, ruffling my hair and leading us back down stairs. 

Fortunately, the movie was over when we got back to the living room and the boys were all getting their blankets situated. Louis and I chose to put our make shift bed at the very far right of the living room, arranging the comforter and quickly crawling underneath. I scooched backwards into his chest, sighing as he wrapped his arms around my waist and making me the little spoon once again.

"Goodnight, lovely." He whispered into my ear. I hummed softly in response, feeling slightly anxious of the sleep ahead of me. Would I have nightmares? Would Louis stay with me the whole time? Would he find out I was here and find me? A shiver trembled its way down my spine and I guess Louis noticed, because he squeezed me tighter against his chest, rubbing soft circles into my stomach.

"You're safe now, Haz." He cooed, nuzzling his face into my neck. "I've got you."

And I couldn't help but believe him, because with the hellish day I've had and his body so close to mine, I was falling asleep within seconds.

**********

Despite feeling utterly exhausted, I found myself awake in what felt like only a couple hours. Maybe it had been, because when I opened my eyes, the room was still filled with the light snores of the lads and with the stifling darkness of the night. Although, instead of going back to sleep, I acknowledged the probable explanation of this rude awakening. Drinking a full can of Pepsi hadn't been the best idea at such a late time, as now I really had to wee, but had absolutely no desire to move and even less enter the swirling darkness of the room. Still, there was no way I could go to sleep without emptying my straining bladder, so I grudgingly wormed my way from Louis' arms and stood up. 

I stared worryingly at the stairs leading to the bathroom. I could barely make them out in the pitch black room, or anything for that matter. My old childhood fears were starting to creep up on me again. The whole place was dead silent, I was tired, I could barely see, and so I was extremely vulnerable. What if Jonathan was in here? What if he had soundlessly broke in and was waiting for me around that corner? It was completely stupid and ridiculous, but I found myself getting panicked anyways. I looked down at Louis' peaceful sleeping figure and wished I had just waited until the morning or even woke him up to come with. No, that would just be pathetic. C'mon, just grow a pair and go up there. You'll be gone for two minutes. I thought desperately. I guess I had no choice now. At this point it was either that or piss myself and I was already out of bed.

So I walked up the stairs slowly and carefully, listening to every sound around me like a paranoid mouse. I tried to make as little sound as possible, for some reason, as if whatever could be hiding would jump out at me if I made the tiniest of sounds. I made it to the top of the stairs where I stared apprehensively down the short vestibule. God, it looks creepy. Just looking down it gave me goose bumps and every shape twisting in the darkness looked like a silhouette but it was just my imagination. That didn't stop me from panicking further, though. 

My heart beat loudly against my chest and my breath picked up. I just want Louis. Just get this over with so you can be with him again. I took a step forward, eyes flicking around nervously until I heard something. I jolted, a squeak leaving my lips as I stumbled backwards at the sound. I clenched the railing in fear, looking around for the culprit, but nothing made another noise. It was probably just the house creaking. I told myself ashamedly. I really needed to grow a backbone. 

I moved towards the bathroom again, this time taking three bold steps forward and stopping again. Nothing. All I could hear was the blood rushing in my head and my frantically thumping heart. That is until the same noise echoed through the room, this time sounding suspiciously like a footstep. That's it, I can't do this. I turned around fearfully with a whimper and moved to run down the stair case. But then, it happened again, except now it was most definitely someone climbing the stairs. I gasped, tears of panic welling in my eyes as I stumbled back, but whoever it was, was already at the top.

They ran forward and grabbed my arms with surprising gentleness but I cried out anyways. Until I recognized the hands holding my trembling arms.

"Harry? Harry? It's okay it's just me, love." Louis' concerned whisper brought such relief to me that a choked sob left my lips.

"Oh." I croaked as he pulled me into his chest, brushing away the tears dribbling down my cheeks.

"Don't cry! What's wrong, Hazza, what're you doing up?" he cooed, stroking my cheek while continuing to mop up my tears with the pad of his thumb. I whimpered and curled into him, needing his touch before I could muster up enough courage to speak coherent sentences. 

"Calm down, babe. I'm here." He breathed, allowing me to do just that in mere minutes. I snuggled closer into his bare chest, sniffling away the remaining tears threatening to fall. Louis pulled away then, looking down at me although he probably couldn't see me all too well. 

"Now, why are you up, darling? It's past midnight." He said softly, brushing a few of my curls back.

"I-I had to wee." I mumbled, a slight blush rising to my cheeks.

"And why were you so upset, just a few minutes ago?" he asked just as gently.

"I-I was s-scared." I said, feeling like a child. 

"Of what, love?" he said concernedly.

"Th-thought you were somebody else." I said quietly, hoping he'd get the gist. He did. Louis sighed, gathering me into his arms again, and rubbing my back slightly.

"I told you, he could never get in here without any of us knowing. You're. Safe. Here. I promise." He nearly begged, pulling back to look at me in the eyes seriously. I nodded. I was just paranoid and cowardly, I knew he could never get in here, but I still worried for no reason. Louis kissed my forehead before booping my nose.

"Now, go wee, I'll be right here waiting for you." He offered me a small smile through the darkness that I returned half-heartedly. I turned around and hesitantly walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind me and flicking on the light. I quickly relieved myself, washing my hands and scurrying from the bathroom into Louis' awaiting arms.

"Alright, Haz?" he asked sweetly, wrapping an arm around my waist. I pulled both of my arms around his waist, pressing my face into his bare side with a nod. He chuckled, leading us back down stairs and into our bed. We resumed our former position and Louis kissed my shoulder lightly. 

"Sweet dreams, darling." He whispered tenderly. I nodded weakly and slipped off to sleep just like before I'd awoken.

**********

I awoke next to bright, orange light flooding onto my eyelids and a hand softly stroking my forehead. A groan bubbled from my lips. I felt utterly exhausted and knew I was up way too early. Why was I being woken up?

"Hazza," Louis' voice whispered softly. "Hazza wake up."

I moaned out incoherent refusals, snuggling closer to his warmth. He chuckled, moving to pull away from me. I panicked, clutching his (strangely) clothed torso.

"N-no!" I whimpered tiredly.

"Darling, we have to go to school." He said quietly, this time successfully pulling away from me. My breathing hitched and frightened gasps left my lips.

"N-no, pl-please." I wheezed. "C-can't he-he'll find me, n-no!"

Louis laid back down, immediately taking my trembling form into his arms. A panicked sob fled my chest.

"No, no, shh, baby." He hushed, reaching up to wipe away the tears leaving my eyes. "I-I guess you don't have to go, but you'll have to do lots of homework."

I tucked my head into his neck, sniffling in relief.

"Th-thank you." I croaked, cuddling close to him.

"It's okay, love, do you want me to stay too?" he asked me gently. I tightened my hold on him.

"Don't leave-don't leave me." I rasped.

"I won't, I won't, it's okay Har." He whispered, holding me against him. I let out a shuddering sigh and closed my tired eyes again. Louis pressed his lips to the top of my head, extricating himself from my clinging limbs. He scooped me up and took me down stairs from what I felt, and settled me onto the couch, blanket and all.

"I'll be right back, I just need to talk to Zayn. Go back to sleep." He stroked my hair back as I nodded slightly, fully prepared to listen to him. But to no surprise, I couldn't fall back asleep, and I knew it was because Louis' arms weren't around me. I curled up in a ball, keeping my eyes sealed shut until I heard Louis come back down stairs. He sat down in the remaining seat by my feet, flicking on the TV and turning it down until it was barely audible.

I peeled one eye open to look at him before scrambling from my spot and sprawling out on his lap. Louis chuckled, beginning to rub my shoulders that were exposed. I sighed blissfully, instantly falling asleep once again under his gentle touch.

**********

Louis wasn't next to me when I awoke for the final time that day. I could tell immediately from the cold, empty couch underneath me and so I opened my eyes with a frown on my face. Now that I was fully rested, I felt much more willing to keep them open and get to my feet, so I did just that. My spine issued several cracks as I got to my feet, stumbling slightly at the sudden movement. I headed up stairs where I assumed Louis was situated, still feeling too groggy to keep my eyelids from drooping. 

Just as I had thought, he was splayed out across the couch, talking quietly to someone on the phone. I walked over to the couch until I was sort of in view. From what I could tell it was Zayn, but I wasn't all too sure what they were talking about.

"...prised he had the guts to show up to school. Little bastard. Maybe make sure to keep an eye on him so he doesn't decide to bail before tomorrow. If he's here today then he should be there tomorrow and that'll make things a lot easier if we know where he is. Yeah. Okay. Thanks mate, I think I have to go now though. I'm pretty sure Harry's awake. Bye, Zayn." Louis hung up the phone and turned slightly to smile at me.

"Good morning, Hazzabear." He grinned at me. I smiled shyly back. 

"I suppose you'd like some breakfast, hmm? Come with me." He stood up, pulling me into his side. I obligingly followed him into the kitchen where he pulled out some pop tarts and a couple boxes of cereal, turning to look at me with kind, blue eyes.

"What would you like, love?" he asked. I looked over the boxes carefully, before hesitantly replying.

"P-pop tart?" Louis beamed at me, plucking a chocolate one from the bow and removing the wrapper.

"Perfect. Take a seat, Haz, it'll be ready in a minute." And the whole day basically continued just like that, laid back and cuddly. Once I'd finished breakfast, we curled up on his downstairs couch and watched movies, played video games, and snuggled until we couldn't feel our legs. It was the thing I needed most today; a good cuddle, because tomorrow would certainly be a rougher day than ideal. So that was exactly what we did until the boys got home and we had a small dinner that Louis and Liam whipped up real quick. Night over took us and I fell asleep in Louis' arms again, morning coming much too soon to my liking. Even Louis couldn't sooth my racing heart now.

I was standing at the door, frozen in my spot as the others got into Zayn's truck without me. Louis thought I had followed him out, so it was no surprise to me that he was confused when I wasn't beside him. He turned back to see me at the door, instantly coming to my side once more.

"Harry." He sighed, pulling me into his arms. I felt too numb to reciprocate, my arms hanging limply at my sides as he squeezed me.

"Listen," he whispered gently, pulling back to caress my face. "You're going to be okay today, Haz. Every time it's possible, you'll be with us, with me, right by my side. I won't let him lay a single finger on you, I swear. If he does, I'll pound his head into the ground. You're safe with me, I promise."

"What about w-when I'm not with you?" I asked quietly.

"You won't be without me unless you're in your classes and he doesn't come to them, right?" 

"That didn't stop him last time." I mumbled nervously. Louis stared down at me with guilt and sorrow swimming in his eyes.

"Harry, I promise, I swear on my life that will never happen again. I won't let it. After today, everything will go back to normal and you'll never have to worry about anything ever again." He said sincerely, compassion flooding into his gentle voice. I nodded sadly, not being able to believe him with the dread filling my heart. I think Louis could tell too, but he pecked my lips anyways and dropped the subject, pulling me towards the truck.

We got into the back where I rested my head on his shoulder. Louis laid his head on top of mine as I did so and Zayn drove off to school. As soon as we got there, I didn't want to even look at the school, even less leave the safety of the truck, although Louis practically dragged me from the vehicle when I'd hung back again. 

I hesitantly walked behind him, unsure of what he wanted me to do. Now that we were together, I had no idea where he wanted me to walk, what my boundaries were. Louis was openly gay in our school and no one had a problem with that as far as I knew. But I was an outcast, a loser, would he want to show any hint of having feelings for a complete nobody? It would certainly have an effect on his flawless reputation and I didn't know how much he valued it, or if he valued it more than me.

These thoughts were swirling around my head like an angry tornado, throwing my other thoughts into a disarray and attacking my already weak self-esteem with heavy blows. What if he didn't want me as much as I wanted him?

But the vicious thoughts vanished as soon as I felt a pair of arms wrapping securely around me, pulling me into their soft, warm chest. 

"What's wrong now, darling?" he whispered concernedly, staring down at my face with beautifully worry filled eyes. I opened my mouth to brush it off, but then realized with horror that tears had begun to cascade down my cheeks, and brushing it off would be a stupid idea. The other boys had left us alone in the nearly empty parking lot and for some reason I wanted them to come back and make everything normal again so I didn't have to reveal my embarrassing thoughts.

I was almost too afraid to speak, too afraid to tell him the truth because who knew what the truth would bring? I could be too paranoid again and he could get mad at me for being so. I could be right and he didn't care about me as much as I did him and I'd lose him. Every scenario I went through I lost him, in fact right now I couldn't imagine not doing so. I screwed up again. I didn't even know what I'd done but I felt it in my bones I'd screwed up. All I wanted to do was fix it but I didn't know how. 

"Harry." He said quietly as a sob escaped my throat. "Please tell me, love, don't be afraid."

Well, I'd already lost the battle so what was the point in trying? I might as well tell him the truth even if it drove him away, and the words were flowing from my lips before I'd even decided that.

"W-why do you like me?" I choked, staring up at him with fearful eyes. Louis frowned, seeming confused at the sudden turn of events.

"What do you mean, Haz?" he asked gently, stroking my arm. I sobbed again, pressing my forehead into his chest.

"I don't g-get it! Nobody else makes an e-effort to put up with me and you haven't up until t-this week. I'm n-not worth it and I can't see if or why you think so!" I rambled tearfully.

"Is that what you're so worried about? Is that why you're so shy around me?" he asked, still sounding extremely gentle, but dumbfounded at the same time. 

"I'm nothing," I cried. "Nothing compared t-to who you could have, why m-me?" 

"Harry." He said almost sternly. "You are the most genuine, kind hearted, sweetest person I know other than your brother. Nobody and I mean nobody in this entire school has anything on you whatsoever. Ever since I first laid eyes on you I thought you were absolutely, fucking adorable and I almost couldn't resist tackling you onto the couch and cuddling you to death. Now that I know you better, I've found out that you're so much more than anyone I have ever been with, anyone I've ever wanted to be with, and I only came to terms with my feelings a short time ago, much too short ago. I always thought about you differently, I just never acted on those thoughts up until this week and I wish I could've done it sooner, because I've never felt so lucky to have someone feel the same way as I do now. You're not even close to nothing, Hazza, you're so much more than that."

I cried into his chest, practically melting from his heart filled speech, but I still couldn't imagine him actually feeling the same way as me. Almost to prove that point, I blubbered out the words I'd been dying to say for over a year.

"I love you." I choked, stiffening like a board as the words left my lips. I could've ruined everything right there if I hadn't already, and I was holding my breath as I waited for him to push me away. But he never did.

"I love you too, Harebear." He whispered after a few seconds, sounding almost surprised, like he'd just realized he felt that way, and maybe he did. I gasped, pulling away to gaze into his eyes filled with adoration.

"W-what?" I croaked, unable to believe his words.

"I do, I really do, Hazza." He said, once again sounding like he had just found out, although now he was surer of himself. And with that, he leaned down and kissed me, softly and with more emotion than I'd ever experience in my life. He loved me. My mind rejoiced. He really felt the same way. Louis pulled away after a minute, wiping the remaining tears from my cheeks but keeping his hands around my cherubic cheeks.

"Now can you tell me what had you doubting, love?" he asked curiously. I looked down at my feet.

"I didn't know what you wanted me to do, if you wanted to be... public, I suppose." I whispered with a blush on my cheeks.

"I don't mind being public at all, baby, as long as you want that. I have nothing to be ashamed of." He stroked my cheeks as he whispered his response, encouraging a smile to creep its way onto my face as I nodded.

"Perfect." He gave me a breathtaking smile and snaked an arm around my waist. "Now, let's get you to class."

**********

The whole day was surprisingly normal. Well, other than the gawking stares of students as Louis and I walked past, alone, hand in hand. But that was it. No Jonathan, no beatings, and no dirty looks that Louis didn't glare menacingly at. That is until school ended. Louis and I had been following Zayn, Niall and Liam back to the truck when I said I had to go to the washroom. Louis, naturally, accompanied me to the bathroom and waited outside the guy's room while I walked in to have a quick wee.

I did so hastily and washed my hands, turning around to grab some paper towel when I was suddenly face to face with a dumb struck Jonathan. I squeaked, forgetting drying my hands and bolted from the bathroom instantly, slamming into Louis arms.

"Harry?" he said worriedly.

"O-outside." I choked and began to speed walk from the school, yanking him along. Louis was confused, but followed me out the front doors. I ran with him over to the truck, moving to open the door, but that oh so familiar grip suddenly wrapped around my wrist. I screeched, wrenching free from his hold and running behind Louis, who finally knew what was going on.

My still wet hands clenched his shirt desperately, him reaching behind and holding me there. 

"Don't you fucking dare move a step closer, dick heads." Louis nearly growled, backing me up a few steps. Some commotion arose in Zayn's truck and all three lads suddenly hopped from the truck to come beside Louis; Zayn at his right side and Niall and Liam beside me. It seems Jonathan gathered up his little posse while we were running, maybe that's why the rest of the boys came out to join us. All three of them wore the same look of utter confusion, disbelief, and in his friends faces, fear.

"When are you going to stop playing hero, Tomlinson?" Jonathan spat. "You can't win, I will get that pathetic boy."

"Oh will you?" Louis sneered back. "The cops are on their way, did you know that? You won't get away with what you've done now, we won't allow it." 

My eyes widened. So that's what Louis was going to do. He wasn't going to personally gut the kid, but let the cops decide where he belonged. It was perfect, except there was no guarantee. We had practically no proof.

"W-what?" the guy on the left sputtered, looking utterly terrified. Suddenly, the distant sound of sirens sounded and all three of the boys now looked frightened. The cop car came around the corner and through the parking lot, stopping in front of us. Jonathan looked like he wanted to run, but he stayed rooted in place, as well as his friends. A bulky man in uniform hopped out of the vehicle, approaching us.

"Are any of you Zayn Malik?" he questioned in a deep voice. Zayn put up his hand, stepping forward.

"I'm Officer Logan. Who is the one you think to have attempted murder?" he shook Zayn's hand with a somewhat skeptical expression on his face. I assumed he was suspicious since we were teenagers. I would be too.

"Him. Well, all three of them were involved." Zayn motioned to the three petrified boys in front of us. My heart was beating fast in my chest.

"Mhmm. And where is your proof?" There was the disbelief. I knew this wouldn't go in our favour.

"Harry has bruises. He was the victim." My breathing hitched and I held Louis' shirt tighter. The boys all made a move to step away from me, but I clung to Louis, refusing to let go.

"C'mon, babe, can you show him for me? You're still safe." He cooed quietly, squeezing me gently. I hesitantly released him, but instantly reached for his hand. Louis took it and stroked the back of my hand with his thumb. The officer watched us carefully, coming forward to stand in front of me. 

"Alright, son, where are these bruises?" he asked. I shakily lifted my arm and pulled up the sleeve, revealing the hand shaped bruises that had yet to fade even a little bit. The officer reached out to examine the bruise, gently grabbing a hold of my trembling arm. He nodded.

"These are most definitely from a person, but I'm afraid it's still not enough proof to bring him to the station. Were you coherent through this attack?"

"Y-yes." I whispered nervously. Louis squeezed my hand.

"And you're sure it was these three? You're sure they intentionally attempted to kill you?" he pushed. I frowned becoming slightly frustrated.

"Yes."

"No he's not." A voice suddenly snapped, Jonathan's to be exact. He glared harshly at all of us.

"The curly boy just can't take a joke. They're overreacting." 

"So, these bruises are from you?" officer Logan questioned.

"Yeah, so what?" the officer bit his lip in thought, and all was quiet for a few minutes.

"Well, that's all I needed to hear." He sighed. "This was a waste of my time, there's not nearly enough proof to even interrogate this man."

My jaw dropped and Louis gasped. Jonathan smirked at us as the officer began to get into his car again. But then, someone shouted out.

"Wait!" The voice was weak sounding and raspy, but very familiar. Footsteps sounded from behind us and soon, he was there.

"That boy is guilty if I have anything to say about it." He said to the officer who had stopped to look out at the sound. I looked around to see who it was and gasped. It was the old man who opened the bin.

"I was a witness, and I also have these." He lifted up a frail hand to reveal the bloody ropes that had bound my wrists. I reached up and showed the cuts that had been made from those very ropes and the officer raised his eyebrows. 

"That definitely changes things." He said in surprise. "Can you recount what you saw?"

"Absolutely." He croaked. "I was just leaving my janitor closet to go out and clean up the halls since it was class time when I heard voices. I knew they weren't teachers and I was going to go out and stop them from skipping when I saw what they were doing. There were three of them, two holding this young man quite roughly and tying his hands together, and one wrapping a gag around his mouth. I was going to stop them, but they were too quick for me and before I could catch 'em, they had grabbed him and left. I knew it was serious 'cause the boy was thrashing like a fish outta water and the boys weren't laughing or nothing. It was no joke.

"I went outside to where I saw them go but they were gone. I was feeling real nervous because I knew if I didn't stop them, they could kill 'em. Yes, I knew that was on their mind, I could see it in their eyes. But I was lookin' for over a half an hour and I couldn't find any trace of them until I heard something 'round the gym. The boy was screaming bloody murder, I could hear it clear as day. I immediately went there and into the equipment room where I heard him screamin' from and found him in the damn basketball bin. Now if that ain't cold blooded, I don't know what is. As soon as I unlocked it, that boy was out and running for his life. He nearly bowled me over and he knocked over the basketball bin, but I didn't really care. I was just glad he was okay. That was when he dropped these and that was the last I saw of him."

Everyone was staring at the old man in shock. Everything he said was true and it just may have been our saving grace. Officer Logan nodded slowly, turning to look at me.

"Is all of that right, son?" he said quietly.

"Every word, s-sir." I mumbled. 

"Alright." He said. "You three are under arrest for the attempted murder of a minor. I suggest you put your hands in the air if you want this to go the easy way."

We all gaped at him. We actually did it, I was actually going to be free of them. Jonathan's eyes widened and he glared at me with such hatred, I shrunk a little into my shoulders.

"You little bastard!" he snarled, charging forward. I shrieked and leapt into Louis, cringing into his back. Louis jumped forward, ready to protect me if needed, but the officer had it handled. Jonathan was caught by him and roughly tugged to the ground where he was quickly hand cuffed.

Louis pulled me in front of him and hugged me, stroking my back gently.

"You did it, babe, I'm so proud of you." He whispered. I nodded into his chest, too happy to say anything else. Officer Logan, once he had all three in the car, came over and beamed at us. 

"I'm incredibly sorry you had to go through that, but you won't have to deal with him for a long time, I expect." He patted my shoulder firmly and moved to go back into the car. But suddenly, Louis stopped him.

"Wait, sir, can you come talk with us for a minute?" he asked. The officer frowned, but came over to us as we moved a little ways away from the others.

"What would you like, son?" Louis looked down at me for a minute, before responding.

"Jonathan didn't just try to kill Harry here without a motive. He actually physically abused him practically every day of his life until I did something about it." My eyes widened at his abrupt words. He looked back down at me with begging eyes, as if asking me if he could continue. I swallowed thickly and looked back at the officer with a nod.

"That's a pretty serious accusation." He said, surprised. "Do you have proof?"

"Actually I do." Louis said confidently and began to pull his phone from his pocket. Wait, what? 

He turned it on and flicked over to his photos and pressed play on a video, showing the officer. It was from the day that Louis saved me from Jonathan, the second time to be exact. It was the day he threatened to kill me and then not four hours later, actually tried. Louis had stuck back to film the vicious punch I'd received and some of the cruel words he'd said to me, just before he charged out and tackled him. Officer Logan's eyes widened.

"I saw that Harry was being dragged against his will to the change room at school and so I followed him, now knowing that this wouldn't be a harmless prank or anything. I snuck in behind them and waited until I heard him hitting him which, by the way, was right after he actually threatened to beat Harry until he was nearly dead. At that point I started recording and intervened shortly after." I was shocked at the firm, almost angry tone Louis was talking in. I nodded in agreement with an awestruck look on my face, squeezing the hand that was in his.

"Well, I'm sure this man will be thrown in jail for a long time now. Can I have your numbers or emails so we can contact you when the court meeting will commence?" I smiled happily and we recited our phone numbers, the officer bidding us goodbye and driving off. 

Louis suddenly scooped me up in a hug and swung me around, nuzzling his face against mine. I giggled, hanging on and hugging him back just as enthusiastically. 

"Th-thank you. I had no idea-" Louis cut me off by pressing his lips to mine.

"I had to put a stop to it, love, of course I did. I had a plan from the very start and now look what's happened, I'm a genius." He giggled and I couldn't explain how happy I felt that he was just as happy as I felt. 

"GROUP HUG!" I heard Niall scream and suddenly there were three more pairs of arms wrapped around us. I laughed as Zayn nuzzled his head into my neck just as Louis had done several times before and buried my head into Louis' chest, blushing a light pink. He chuckled and tried to wrap his arms around me again, which proved difficult with the six other arms around my waist. But I surprised myself from wanting to stay like that forever. I didn't want to move a single inch or a single arm because in that moment I felt so loved and important, more so than I'd ever felt. And now I saw it. I had never been alone or friendless or worthless because all four of these lads had been there, I just never caught on. But now, I knew they were there and I knew I had not one but four people I could rely on for just about anything. 

I knew now I was safe, I was loved, and finally, I had a place that I could fit in, whether that place was Louis' arms or the late night movie marathons or just about anywhere I was cared for, and that feeling was one I knew could never be beaten.

fin


End file.
